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Balloon Boy Dad: It Wasn't a Hoax

Richard Heene says he pleaded guilty to help his wife

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 6, 2010 5:01 PM CST

(Newser) – There's no easy way to break this: The balloon boy dad is back in the news, and he insists the hoax he admitted to perpetrating wasn't, in fact, a hoax. Richard Heene tells Larry King in an interview airing Friday that he genuinely thought his son Falcon was aboard the infamous contraption when it took flight. He says he pleaded guilty only to save his wife from being deported to Japan. The local sheriff says he's "shocked" by the interview.

"I had to do it to save my family and my wife," Heene says in excerpts released by CNN. How about Falcon's televised admission that "we did it for the show"? "Well, first off, let's take into consideration he's only been speaking English and just learned 3½ years prior to that," says dad. Heene, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant, will begin serving a 90-day sentence on Jan. 11. His wife, Mayumi, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, will serve 20 days when he's out.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Richard Heene, center, looks up as he sits in the courtroom with his wife Mayumi, and attorney last month. (AP Photo/Rich Abrahamson, Pool)

Richard and Mayumi Heene. (AP Photo/V. Richard Haro, Pool)

Falcon Heene with his dad, Richard, during the media heyday after the incident. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

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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. - Richard Heene

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Balloon Boy Dad: It Wasn't a Hoax