Caitlin.ann
January 8th, 2010, 06:14 PM
(CNN) -- A man who pleaded guilty to perpetrating a hoax by falsely reporting that his son was drifting over eastern Colorado in a balloon maintains the incident was not part of a plan for fame in an interview with CNN's "Larry King Live."
Richard Heene pleaded guilty in November to a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant, and was sentenced last month to 90 days in custody, to begin January 11. He also must serve four years on probation and complete 100 hours of community service each year.
But Heene, in an interview airing Friday, told CNN's Larry King he pleaded guilty to save his wife, Mayumi, from being deported to Japan.
"I had to do it to save my family and my wife," he said, according to interview excerpts released Wednesday. "... We had applied years ago for some paperwork. Things got fouled up. We had to reapply so she should have been an American citizen by now, but anyway. I can't -- I can't break up my family."
Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities in the incident involving the couple's 6-year-old son, Falcon. She was sentenced to 20 days in jail, but her term will begin after her husband's sentence ends, so their children will have a parent able to care for them.
Told about Heene's statements, Larimer County, Colorado, Sheriff Jim Alderden told King, "Quite honestly, I'm shocked that he would make such statements.
Link (http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/06/colorado.balloon.boy/index.html)
Richard Heene pleaded guilty in November to a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant, and was sentenced last month to 90 days in custody, to begin January 11. He also must serve four years on probation and complete 100 hours of community service each year.
But Heene, in an interview airing Friday, told CNN's Larry King he pleaded guilty to save his wife, Mayumi, from being deported to Japan.
"I had to do it to save my family and my wife," he said, according to interview excerpts released Wednesday. "... We had applied years ago for some paperwork. Things got fouled up. We had to reapply so she should have been an American citizen by now, but anyway. I can't -- I can't break up my family."
Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities in the incident involving the couple's 6-year-old son, Falcon. She was sentenced to 20 days in jail, but her term will begin after her husband's sentence ends, so their children will have a parent able to care for them.
Told about Heene's statements, Larimer County, Colorado, Sheriff Jim Alderden told King, "Quite honestly, I'm shocked that he would make such statements.
Link (http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/06/colorado.balloon.boy/index.html)