Richard Heene, the Colorado father whose quest for reality TV fame involved falsely claiming his son was adrift in a homemade balloon, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years probation. Thirty days of the 90 day sentence will be fulltime in jail, while the remaining 60 will be on work-release. A judge said Heene must start serving on January 11, "I will delay this until after the holiday in fairness mostly to his children." Heene apologized, "I'm very, very sorry. I apologize to all the rescue workers out there, the people who got involved," and wife Mayumi Heene will be sentenced later. They owe $42,000 related to authorities' expenses involved in tracking down the balloon. more ›

The Colorado parents who apparently orchestrated a massive hoax involving a runaway helium balloon and their young son last month will plead guilty to charges, according to their lawyer. A statement from lawyer David Lane said, "Richard and Mayumi Heene will enter pleas of guilty in Larimer County Court.... Mayumi Heene will plead guilty to False Reporting to Authorities, a class 3 misdemeanor (the lowest level misdemeanor in Colorado law) with a stipulated sentence of probation. 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." more ›

Aha! The AP reports, "According to documents released today by Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, the boy's mother, Mayumi Heene, told authorities two days after the balloon flight that she and her husband knew all along that their son Falcon was hiding in the residence and was not in the balloon." Also, she allegedly said that the balloon was made for the hoax and that they were trying to get a reality show deal. Her husband's lawyer dismissed the news, "Her English is not that great, first of all." more ›

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters that the "Balloon" Boy incident of October 15, 2009 that riveted the world was a just a big ploy for attention (mission accomplished!), "It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt and we believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt in hopes to better market themselves for a reality show." He also said Richard and Mayumi Heene "put on a very good show for us, and we bought it." more ›