Forgiveness of the Balloon Boy Case: Parents of the infamous saga forgiven by the Colorado governor

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Richard and Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty in 2009 after telling authorities their 6-year-old son Falcon, rightly so, was inside a silver helium balloon that came out of his garden. The balloon’s flight into the atmosphere was followed live by media around the world and the story had a happy ending: Falcon had never been to the balloon and found himself safe at home.
The family drew the resulting media attention, but its story collapsed after an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. Repeating Blitzer’s question to his son, Richard Heene asked Falcon if he heard his parents yelling for him as they searched the house. The boy said yes.

“And why didn’t you go out?” Richard asked.

“You guys said we did it for the show,” Falcon replied.

Authorities later accused the parents of cheating as part of an advertising ploy to market themselves for a reality TV show.

‘Balloon Boy’ and his family continue, moving on to heavy metal

Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a felony of false reporting to authorities and spent 20 days in jail, and Richard Heene pleaded guilty to a felony for attempting to influence a public official and served 90 days in prison. prison.

For his part, Richard Heene has denied that the incident was a sham, claiming that he pleaded guilty to keeping his wife, originally from Japan, deported.

Polis, a Democrat who took office in 2019, offered the pardon and said the parents had paid the price in the public eye.

“In the case of Richard and Mayumi Heene, the parents of the ‘balloon boy’, we are all ready to overcome the spectacle of a decade ago that wasted the precious time and resources of police officers and the general public. Polis said in a statement.

“Richard and Mayumi have paid the price in the eyes of the public, have served their sentences and it’s time for everyone to continue. It’s time to let them follow the permanent criminal record of the Balloon Boy saga and drag parents the rest of their life “.

In all, Polis pardoned 18 people and commuted the sentences of another four on Wednesday.

CNN’s Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

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