Ballooning Into Something Much Larger

Balloon Boy's parents are apparently going to cop a guilty plea to setting up their son's faked balloon ride as a hoax.

The Colorado parents in last month's notorious "balloon boy" case will plead guilty to offenses for creating a hoax that their son had flown away in a large balloon.

Richard and Mayumi Heene are to plead Friday morning in Larimer County Court, according to a statement issued by Richard Heene's attorney.

Mayumi Heene is expected to plead guilty to an offense of false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor of the lowest level, according to the attorney.

Richard Heene is expected to plead guilty to a felony offense of attempting to influence a public servant.

Though the Heenes could receive jail time for the charges, the prosecutor has recommended probation, Richard Heene's attorney said.

The threat of deportation for Mayumi Heene was a factor in the plea deal negotiation, the attorney's statement said.

"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," the statement said.

Given all the insanity this going to trial would cause, a guilty plea is seemingly a good idea. Not sure about the probation, however, especially for a white collar felony for influencing a public servant.

I think we've had enough white collar felons walk on probation in this country, and very few of them manage to rope children into their schemes. Perhaps we should try to prevent this kind of thing in the future in both cases.