'Barefoot Bandit' faces new charges over plane theft
SEATTLE (AP) - The "Barefoot Bandit," who led police on a two-year, cross-country crime spree in stolen boats, cars and planes, is facing new charges in Washington state.
Colton Harris-Moore is already serving a seven-year prison term after pleading guilty to state and federal crimes, but Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich filed theft and burglary charges this month against the 21-year-old, accusing him of stealing an Anacortes couple's plane in 2010 and flying it to the airport on Orcas Island, 10 miles away.
Harris-Moore had been a headache for local law enforcement in Western Washington since boyhood, and by his late teens had taken to joyriding in airplanes as a self-taught pilot. He earned his moniker by committing some of his crimes without shoes.
In 2010, he hopscotched across Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois in stolen cars. He stole a plane in Indiana, crash-landed off an island in the Bahamas, and was arrested when police shot out the engine of a boat he took.
He sold the rights to his story to 20th Century Fox, with the proceeds going to repay the nearly $1.4 million he owes his victims.
Weyrich declined to join other Washington prosecutors in the plea deal filed in Island County Superior Court to resolve state charges against Harris-Moore.
"The crime was committed in Skagit County," Weyrich said Wednesday.
The Skagit County prosecutor previously charged Harris-Moore, but dropped the accusations in 2011 to clear the way for the Island County plea deal. The charges were refiled on Feb. 8, and Harris-Moore will be transported from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen to Skagit County to face them.
Prosecutors are seeking an exceptional sentence against Harris-Moore, which would authorize the judge to impose a sentence above the standard range for the crimes. The charges carry a maximum of 10 years in prison. If he is convicted, some of the sentence could run at the same time as the one he's already serving.
Harris-Moore's attorney, John Henry Browne, did not learn of the new charges until Wednesday, when Harris-Moore called the office to say he'd been served with an arrest warrant from Skagit County.
"All the other prosecutors tried to get Weyrich to come along with the plea deal," Browne said. "They all thought the sentence was fine, but I guess it's not OK with Mr. Weyrich. I thought Colton Harris-Moore was supposed to be the juvenile here."
Browne said that by declining to participate in the state plea deal, Weyrich had cut the Skagit County victims out of receiving restitution from any movie made about Harris-Moore. Weyrich said Wednesday he did not know whether that was true.
The Anacortes couple whose plane was stolen, Jeff and Linda Hendricks, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday. The plane sustained little damage.
Colton Harris-Moore is already serving a seven-year prison term after pleading guilty to state and federal crimes, but Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich filed theft and burglary charges this month against the 21-year-old, accusing him of stealing an Anacortes couple's plane in 2010 and flying it to the airport on Orcas Island, 10 miles away.
Harris-Moore had been a headache for local law enforcement in Western Washington since boyhood, and by his late teens had taken to joyriding in airplanes as a self-taught pilot. He earned his moniker by committing some of his crimes without shoes.
In 2010, he hopscotched across Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois in stolen cars. He stole a plane in Indiana, crash-landed off an island in the Bahamas, and was arrested when police shot out the engine of a boat he took.
He sold the rights to his story to 20th Century Fox, with the proceeds going to repay the nearly $1.4 million he owes his victims.
Weyrich declined to join other Washington prosecutors in the plea deal filed in Island County Superior Court to resolve state charges against Harris-Moore.
"The crime was committed in Skagit County," Weyrich said Wednesday.
The Skagit County prosecutor previously charged Harris-Moore, but dropped the accusations in 2011 to clear the way for the Island County plea deal. The charges were refiled on Feb. 8, and Harris-Moore will be transported from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen to Skagit County to face them.
Prosecutors are seeking an exceptional sentence against Harris-Moore, which would authorize the judge to impose a sentence above the standard range for the crimes. The charges carry a maximum of 10 years in prison. If he is convicted, some of the sentence could run at the same time as the one he's already serving.
Harris-Moore's attorney, John Henry Browne, did not learn of the new charges until Wednesday, when Harris-Moore called the office to say he'd been served with an arrest warrant from Skagit County.
"All the other prosecutors tried to get Weyrich to come along with the plea deal," Browne said. "They all thought the sentence was fine, but I guess it's not OK with Mr. Weyrich. I thought Colton Harris-Moore was supposed to be the juvenile here."
Browne said that by declining to participate in the state plea deal, Weyrich had cut the Skagit County victims out of receiving restitution from any movie made about Harris-Moore. Weyrich said Wednesday he did not know whether that was true.
The Anacortes couple whose plane was stolen, Jeff and Linda Hendricks, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday. The plane sustained little damage.
GOOD! I hope he rots in jail for decades to come.  Not only was he a complete jerk off, but so is each and every one of you that ever supported his nonsense.Â
@snow surfer You must be a real treasure to be married to!
Well when he has sold his book and has paid back everyone in FULL including the inconvience of the damage he did, then they can let him out.
But until then he can just sit and rot.
Mom must still be so proud of her little dirt bag. Hope he gets a few more years.
There is no scientific study's that conclude that the harder the punishment the less likely the criminal will re-offend.
@nwlib Thats why we need public hangings at every school and town hall
@nwlib Good let them live at your house.
@nwlib I think we are far past caring if we can rehabilitate this Jerk-off. This is about punishment and simple revenge. Yes that matters sometimes. He gets everything he deserves and then some. Â
A little clarification needed here. Â A class C felony is the minimum felony. Â There are also class B felonies and class A felonies. Â Class B felonies are the classification that burglaries are given. Â Colton Harris Moore committed numerous burglaries and was convicted of numerous of those offenses. Â Those can carry a sentence of up to 10 years and a $20,000 fine. Â So Colton Harris Moore got an excellent plea Bargain deal.
Let us not forget that Colton Harris-Moore was convicted of 33 felonies. Â You have to work EXTREMELY hard to be convicted of 33 felonies. Â His sentence was 6 1/2 years. Â That equals 2 months incarceration per felony. Â A class C felony is defined as a crime punishable by up to 5 years and or a $10,000 fine. Â So lets do the math. Â 5 years per conviction (33) = 165 years for the felonies he admitted to and was convicted of. Â The fines could equal $330,000. Â Colton Harris Moore is serving 6.5 years which is truly a plea BARGAIN. Â I hope the Skagit County Prosecutors Office hammers this criminal and add as much time as they can to his time in prison. Â The victims deserve justice. Â Make no mistake, when Colton Harris Moore gets out of prison he will re-offend again, and again, and again. Â It is who he is.
The Skagit County Prosecutor is just looking for his 15 minutes of fame, probably won't happen. Â The kid had a drunk for a mom, he is serving his time, enough is enough
The kid should be cleaning rest stop toilets for life.
And we cant even charge George W Bush with lying us in to an illegal war, invading our privacy with warrant-less wiretaps and the deaths of 4000+ US troops..muchless stealing two elections.
Â
@nwlib As a consolation prize, we did get a bunch of funny videos of GWB putting his foot in his mouth
@31F @nwlib Im waiting....
@31FÂ @nwlib But it does show his level of intelligence...
@nwlib Huh, you have to navigate to another website to view the videos.  They aren't just going to play...Â
@nwlib Like how is this on topic?  Dude or Dudette, really, it's been YEARS since Bush was in office, maybe it's time you get over it and move on... just a thought.
@K. Coleman Tell that to the family of a dead soldier or someone who died on 9/11/01 and see what kind of a response you get... and Ill bet you are someone who wears a flag on your lapel and pays NRA dues...
@K. Coleman @nwlib You have some issues living in denial.. Somehow most think this BFB is far worse than what our former leader was. It is just pathetic how we hold a person who hurt or killed anyone in a lower light than someone who did and is still profiting off it. And as far as your Darwin I could care less.
@nwlib Already jumping to conclusions by trying to label me as an NRA guy huh?  Sorry, I don't belong to them.  Nope, I do not have a flag lapel for my suits either... but I do have a great little Darwin Fish! :)  Of course I do not wear it as I do not want to offend the easy to annoy types.
Now we are going way off topic from Bush to 9/11? Â Are you trying to link the two? Â Think whatever you like like dude, you obviously have some issues that I have no time to deal with. Â Have a great life.Â
Not looking so smug are you?
@rnco Yeah I was just thinking of how effectively they wiped that smartast smirk off his face.
Please keep this little creep in prison.
Weyrich- vs -Browne. Â Two of my personal favorite attorneys. Â Weyrich you are a great guy and the best in town, however Browne is much more worldly and dirty.
5,000 hours of community service. Â We could use a cleanup on the freeways. Â
A lot of face-saving going on.....
give the little puke ten more years , to be served CONSECUTIVE, none of this concurrent BS.   Â
Was this Bob Rivers' plane?
@Watery Tart Re-read the last paragraph.
@Watery Tart  I thought Bob Rivers plane was the one that crash landed in Granite Falls?  Heck, he stole so many planes, I really don't know the answer.
Browne is so arrogant he needs his bubble burst. He acts like he's some kind of movie star.
@SargeMcC well, they are going to make a movie about him...
%s
Poor Barefoot...Let him go!!! He was a inspiration to us all!
@Larry Bernandez And exactly how did he inspire you? Please be specific. I so can't wait to hear this.Â
@Larry Bernandez Â
I agree, for a kid to elude authorities for that long is inspirational
King Co. needs Skagit's Prosecuter
I wonder if mommy's little boytoy is waking up to the fact that he was messing with a lot of peoples lives and now he is on the burner to pay for it. I don't know what Brown had planned to get that fool off, but he was guilty of so many crimes the kid should have gray hair before he see's the light of day again. People like this kid should get pounded down hard showing that we will not accept someone doing things to others like that.
I'll bet Weyrich is planning on running for higher office soon, and he wants to be able to pad his resume' with this.
@komonews enough already! There are murderers who are given less time
@kristinehyde Seriously. If he'd had proper parenting and proper mental health intervention services as a child this never would have happened. As it is, he was a juvenile during most of his crimes and seems genuinely embarrassed and remorseful about what he did (he didn't ask for the notoriety), and there's a restitution plan in play to pay for the damages he did. He also did not rape or murder anyone, or even beat anyone up, and many of his crimes were rather petty cabin break-ins and such. I don't want to minimize what he did and claim that it was no big deal, but with the mitigating factors in play, I think a seven year sentence is just and doesn't need to be extended any longer. I have no idea why the one county decided they wanted to waste a bunch of money and take extra time to charge him separately, especially knowing as they must that his sentence would likely run mostly concurrently with what he's already serving, extending it only a short while. When you factor in the fact that most inmates who have good behavior get time off their sentence (they need the room for violent criminals), he'll probably still be out in seven or eight years.
@spacegoddess I'll have to disagree with you on this one.  Lot's of kids grow up in terrible families, and most go on to be law-abiding citizens.  I might also add that some kids from great families turn out to be pure scum.  One cannot always 'blame the parents'.  Allowing this guy to use his upbringing as an EXCUSE, only serves to encourage others.  Criminals always seem to have an excuse or reason to justify their behavior.  (Criminal mentality)
I know some people are willing to overlook his MANY 'youthful indiscretions', but this kid went WAY beyond that. Â Even if one is willing to 'ignore' the property damage and theft, remember he also put peoples lives in danger with his airplane joyrides... you have to admit, his landings were not the 'best'.
In the end I hope this young man learns his lesson, and observes all the dysfunctional people in the prison and learns by their example of what NOT TO BE. Â Â
@kristinehyde Just because some murderers received sentences that were too short is not reason to give others sentences that are also too short. In my opinion Colton should be in jail at least three times more than his sentence was. Hopefully they can continue to find crimes for which he has not yet been charged, and can keep adding years to his sentence.
You mean Barefoot is actually still behind bars...??
John Henry Browne didn't do him any favors the first time around. Now he's publicity hunting with Sgt. Bales. I'd be looking elsewhere for representation. But that's just me.
@Klondiko A lawyer's job isn't always to get the client off scott free.  Often the best they can do is get a charge or sentence reduced. A seven year bid for all the crimes he was accused of and over  a million bucks for the movie rights is a pretty good outcome.
@Klondiko John henry browne will only represent you if it gets his face on tv.Â
I sure hope his sentace runs consecutively not concurrently. so he will have to do so he will have to do a total of 17 years behind bars.
â@komonews: 'Barefoot Bandit' faces new charges over plane theft -- http://t.co/zIyRAKivcTâ I hate the principal of this kid!
At least the Barefoot Bandit didnt use a AK-47 with a CLIP. He didn't kill anyone. Why in some circuits he would be considered a legend.
He is a good clean criminal who did an excellent job with planing out what he did.
And Ill bet he is a REPUBLICAN.
@nwlib Do you drive an SUV? Were you in the Northgate area this morning?
You're one of those who gives liberals a bad name.