Balloon Boy Parents Expected to Plead Guilty

The balloon parents reportedly plan to plead guilty tomorrow morning on a variety of offenses linked to the hoax.

According to the couple’s lawyer, Mama Balloon Mayumi Heene will plead guilty to an offense of false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor.  Papa Balloon Richard will own up to a felony of attempting to influence a public servant.  Jail time is not expected for either of them.

So why the pleas?  According to their attorney, fear that Mayumi Heene would be sent flying back to Japan in a big silver balloon, er, plane.  Here’s the official statement:

“Mayumi Heene is a citizen of Japan. As such, any felony conviction or certain misdemeanors would result in her deportation, even though her husband and children are Americans.”

But wait…there’s more:

“It is supremely ironic that law enforcement has expressed such grave concern over the welfare of the children, but it was ultimately the threat of taking the children’s mother from the family and deporting her to Japan which fueled this deal.”

Ironic indeed.

More details here.

Related Posts:

• Balloon Boy’s Dad Still Says Stunt Was No Hoax (VIDEO)
• Balloon Mom: Why She Fessed Up
• UPDATE: Balloon Boy’s Family Facing Charges
• Falcon Heene Pukes On The Today Show
• VIDEO: Balloon Boy’s Dad on Tape Releasing Balloon

Tags: bad parenting, balloon, balloon boy, balloon boy confession, balloon boy hoax, child abuse, children, Heene, heene family, mayumi heene, mayumi heene confession, parenting, reality show, reality television, reality TV, richard heene, television