Remember the balloon-boy hoax this past October?
Well, the parents of the hoax were both sentenced to prison terms yesterday, December 23.
The dad, Richard Heene, 48, received 90 days in jail and four years’ probation. The mom, Mayumi Heene, 45, was given 20 days behind bars and four years’ probation.
Both also received community service (100 hours and 120 hours), and are barred from profiting financially in any way from the incident for at least four years.
As we reported, the hoax occurred on Oct. 15, when the Heenes claimed their 6-year-old son Falcon had floated away in a homemade balloon. In fact, the boy was hiding in the house at the time.
During the trial, Larimer County chief deputy district attorney Andrew Lewis told the court: “Mr. Heene wasted a lot of man power and a lot of money in wanting to get himself some publicity,” and said the court should make an example of him.
Justice? Too harsh? What are your thoughts?