Balloon boy's dad denies it was hoax
Source: Agencies |
January 8, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Colorado father who pleaded guilty to a felony in the runaway balloon saga insisted in an interview set to air today that the event wasn't a hoax.
In his first television interview since shortly after the October 15 event, Richard Heene said that he believed that his six-year-old son, Falcon, was in the homemade balloon when it took off from the family's Fort Collins backyard.
"We had searched the house, high and low," Heene said, choking back tears during a taped interview for "Larry King Live."
"I knew he was in the craft. In my mind there was no other place."
Heene said he pleaded guilty to a felony count of falsely influencing authorities to protect his wife, Mayumi, a Japanese citizen who he said may have faced deportation if convicted of a more serious crime.
Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting.
"I'm not disputing the fact that I did have to plead guilty and when I say have to, I had to do it to save my family and my wife. The threat of deportation was imminent," said Heene, an aspiring reality television show actor and backyard scientist.
Prosecutors have denied threatening Mayumi Heene with deportation.
Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail on December 23 and will begin serving his sentence on Monday. Mayumi Heene was sentenced to 20 days, which she'll serve once her husband completes his jail sentence.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told King: "Quite honestly, I'm shocked that he would make such statements.
"The evidence against Mr Heene and Mayumi at this point is really overwhelming. There's no doubt in my mind that this thing was a hoax."
In his first television interview since shortly after the October 15 event, Richard Heene said that he believed that his six-year-old son, Falcon, was in the homemade balloon when it took off from the family's Fort Collins backyard.
"We had searched the house, high and low," Heene said, choking back tears during a taped interview for "Larry King Live."
"I knew he was in the craft. In my mind there was no other place."
Heene said he pleaded guilty to a felony count of falsely influencing authorities to protect his wife, Mayumi, a Japanese citizen who he said may have faced deportation if convicted of a more serious crime.
Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting.
"I'm not disputing the fact that I did have to plead guilty and when I say have to, I had to do it to save my family and my wife. The threat of deportation was imminent," said Heene, an aspiring reality television show actor and backyard scientist.
Prosecutors have denied threatening Mayumi Heene with deportation.
Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail on December 23 and will begin serving his sentence on Monday. Mayumi Heene was sentenced to 20 days, which she'll serve once her husband completes his jail sentence.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told King: "Quite honestly, I'm shocked that he would make such statements.
"The evidence against Mr Heene and Mayumi at this point is really overwhelming. There's no doubt in my mind that this thing was a hoax."
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