Balloon Boy Parents Plead Guilty in Court
November 14, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
The Colorado couple, Richard and Mayumi Heene, accused of pulling a hoax by reporting their son was aboard a runaway balloon is avoiding more spectacle and a trial by entering guilty pleas. (Nov. 13)
They say the only reason they did it was so the wife wouldn’t be deported to Japan.
Balloon Boy Parents to Plead Guilty
November 12, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
Maybe theyll get a reality Jail Show
The parents of a 6-year-old son Coloradan who became known as “balloon boy” will plead guilty at a court hearing on Friday, their lawyer said in a statement on Thursday.
Mayumi Heene will plead guilty to false reporting to authorities, a class 3 misdemeanor, with a stipulated sentence of probation, according to a statement from Killmer, Lane and Newman, attorneys of law.
Richard Heene will plead guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a class 4 felony. The prosecutor has stipulated to a sentence of probation, the office said in a statement.
The most serious of the charges recommended by Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden would have carried a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
Read More at MSNBC
Sheriff in ‘Balloon Boy’ Case may havee broke Privacy Laws
A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate accusations that the Larimer County sheriff violated privacy laws in the case of the runaway balloon that was believed to be carrying a boy. The boy’s parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, are accused of lying to the authorities by saying their son Falcon, 6, was aboard a balloon launched from their backyard. The Larimer County District Attorney’s Office said the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office would look into Mr. Heene’s lawyer’s claims that the sheriff, Jim Alderden, broke privacy laws by discussing the involvement of child welfare workers in the case.
Balloon Boy Mom Admits ‘Hoax’
October 24, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
MAYUMI HEENE
Balloon boy’s mom has admitted her family’s story is full of hot air.
Mayumi Heene, who with her husband sparked a national panic when they said their 6-year-old son, Falcon, was stuck in a runaway, helium-filled balloon, allegedly told cops the story was a hoax.
“Mayumi described that she and [husband] Richard Heene devised this hoax approximately two weeks earlier . . . She and Richard had instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax,” a newly released police affidavit said.
Richard told cops that the Colorado couple built their weird, flying-saucer-shaped balloon specifically for the hoax, according to the Denver Post.
But David Lane, an attorney for Richard , said the confession was meaningless.
“[Mayumi's] English is not that great, first of all,” he told the paper.
The couple originally told cops their homemade weather balloon broke free while they were testing it on Oct. 15, and they feared that Falcon had climbed inside. The balloon’s trip was telecast nationwide and sparked a massive rescue effort.
Falcon later was found hiding in the family home.
Suspicion of a hoax arose when the child blurted out during an interview that they did it for television.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden has said he will recommend that charges be filed.
Balloon Boy: People are pissed
October 23, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
Paul Pozarnsky, 25, of Fort Collins holds a sign while standing near tripods during a news conference Saturday at the Heene family’s Fort Collins home. Pozarnsky and his brother, Jarrod, both held signs mocking the hoopla. Jarrod Pozarnsky’s sign read: ‘Put balloon boy on TV: America’s Most Wanted.’ (Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan)
Jordan Good, 13, front, chuckles Saturday after listening in on a news conference with Richard Heene at the Heene family’s Fort Collins home. Good is pictured with Jarrod Pozarnsky, 27, left, and brother Paul Pozarnsky, 25, right. Good and Paul Pozarnsky are from a nearby neighborhood. (Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan)
Falcon Heene made international news after his parents reported the boy, 6, had floated away from the backyard of their Fort Collins home in a UFO-shaped helium balloon Oct. 15. A massive search ensued along the balloon’s approximately 50-mile flight path after the balloon landed empty near Denver International Airport.
The boy eventually emerged from hiding at his parents’ home Thursday evening, and the family immediately began granting television interviews. Within hours, however, the public’s support turned to skepticism and eventually to outright hostility Sunday when Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden declared the whole thing a hoax concocted by the Heene family to get themselves on television.
It worked.
Balloon Boy Update
October 22, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
The mother of Colorado “balloon boy” Falcon Heene is a stoic, hardworking woman who is loyal to her family and sometimes subservient to her husband, those who know her say.
She now could face charges along with her husband in last week’s runaway balloon spectacle.
Six-year-old Falcon Heene was reported trapped in the saucer-shaped balloon as it floated across the Colorado plains but was later found alive and well at the family home in Fort Collins, about 60 miles north of Denver.
Authorities say Falcon was a pawn in a hoax hatched by his parents to get publicity for a reality TV show. They say the parents could face criminal charges and be asked to pay restitution for the cost of the massive search-and-rescue operation.
The couple, who have two other sons, have denied staging the incident.
Richard Heene, 48, is the public face of the family, and his aspirations to become a reality TV star and television scientist are well known. Mayumi Heene, 45, has been mostly in the background.
Friends say she emigrated from her native Japan — it’s not clear when — and met Richard at an acting school in Hollywood. Public records show they married in October 1997 in Clark County, Nev., which includes Las Vegas.
The couple ran a film-editing business in Los Angeles for a while, renting a house in 2006 and 2007 from Carrie Cavalier, a Burbank-based photographer who takes publicity headshots.
“When they had their editing business, she was doing all the work. She was in the back guest house doing editing and working on the footage all the time,” Cavalier said.
Balloon Boy Folly, Mom Gets Attorney
October 21, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
Balloon Boy’s mom, Mayumi Heene, hired her own lawyer — as a friend described her as a “slave” to an abusive husband.
The lawyer, Lee Christian, met with Mayumi yesterday, then attempted to downplay speculation that her client is about to sell out her reality TV-obsessed hubby Richard.
“I don’t do divorces,” Christian told The Post. “I do criminal defense.”
Mayumi, 45, and Richard, 48, duped the world into believing their six-year-old son Falcon was floating away on a homemade balloon. Probers believe the couple, featured on the ABC show “Wife Swap,” hatched the bizarre plot to score their own reality series.
They are expected to be hit with felony conspiracy charges next week as the Federal Aviation Administration weighs civil penalties that up to $2 million.
Mayumi has displayed a tough persona on TV. But her pal, Barbara Slusser, told ABC, “Whatever [her husband] says, goes. She’s basically a slave. He kept her isolated and separated from everyone else.”
