Colorado, January 11: The father who pleaded guilty to orchestrating America’s balloon boy hoax is to turn himself in to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence on Monday following a media blitz in which he said he was innocent.
Richard Heene told The Associated Press that his Japanese wife misunderstood the meaning of the word “hoax” when she purportedly confessed to authorities.
“She cries, now and then, stating that I’m going to jail for 90 days because of what she said,” Heene said in an interview on Friday, about Mayumi Heene’s statements to police.
He maintained there was no balloon hoax, even though he pleaded guilty and agreed to be sentenced to 90 days in jail. He said he truly believed his son was inside the balloon when it floated away in October, and that he pleaded guilty only to appease authorities and save his wife from being deported to Japan.
But District Attorney Larry Abrahamson said it was the Heenes and their attorneys, not prosecutors, who brought up the issue of deportation.
Richard Heene must serve 30 days starting on Monday before he can participate in the jail’s work release programme.
In interviews with several media outlets last week, he said investigators presented inconsistencies to the media shortly after the October 15 event, which captivated a national television audience. He says his phone records show he called 911 before calling a TV station for a helicopter. And he maintains he told authorities the truth about whether the balloon could float away carrying his 6-year-old son.
But it was Mayumi Heene’s confession to sheriff’s investigators – in which she detailed the couple’s efforts to pitch a television show, their financial difficulties, and their actions in the weeks leading up to the event – that make up the bulk of Larimer County authorities’ case against the Heenes.
“The interview was much more than, ‘Mayumi, is this a hoax?’ and she admitted to it. She went into the details of it,” Sheriff Jim Alderden said in an interview with the AP. “So, clearly she has a better understanding of the English language than Richard Heene would have you believe.”
—Agencies