American father in balloon boy hoax to begin jail sentence Monday, says wife bla

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American father in balloon boy hoax to begin jail sentence Monday, says wife

blames herself

Mon Jan 11, 5:11 AM

By P. Banda, The Associated Press

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - 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

Monday following a media blitz in which he said he was innocent.

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 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.

Heene must serve 30 days starting Monday before he can participate in

the jail's work release program.

In interviews with several media outlets last week, he said investigators

presented inconsistencies to the media shortly after the Oct. 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 Heene would have you believe. "

Added Abrahamson: " We had been working with the attorneys for both he and his

wife before charges were even filed. There was a lot of discussion about what

was going to happen, about how and why. We were surprised that now he's coming

out and saying that it wasn't a hoax. "

Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour and faces a 20-day jail term.

" My wife's first language is Japanese, not English, " Heene said. " My

wife came home in tears wondering what she might have said. She opened this

Japanese-to-English dictionary, and she walks up to me crying her head off, and

she says to me, 'I thought hoax meant an exhibition. "

Mayumi Heene was not speaking to the media.

The Heenes must also pay restitution for the rescue effort that sent officers

from two counties and other agencies scrambling. The Colorado National Guard

launched two helicopters to track the balloon and possibly rescue the boy.

Prosecutors estimate the Heenes owe $48,000 (C33,600), though Heene's

attorney could provide a different estimate by a Jan. 25 deadline.

Heene also faces an $11,000 civil penalty from the Federal Aviation

Administration. The balloon briefly shut down a runway at Denver International

Airport.

Sheriff's investigators suspected the family's claims that Falcon Heene was

inside the balloon were a hoax after Falcon declared in a CNN interview that " we

did this for the show. " The boy hid for five hours in the garage as the saga

unfolded.

Alderden said that Falcon's comments had clearly " raised everybody's level of

skepticism. "

Asked about whether Falcon feels to blame for his parents' jail sentences, Heene

said: " First off, we never presented the idea that that statement caused

anything, so he's completely unaware of that, in that arena. We've done that

because it wouldn't be fair to him, it's just, it's not.

" We don't have cable. The kids don't watch. And the reason why we disconnected

the cable is because there's so much negative news out there. Well, now I'm a

part of it. "