Balloon Boy's parents busted

Everyone remember the Balloon Boy incident where a Colorado couple claimed their 6-year-old son had been carried away in a homemade helium balloon. Of course, this was all a hoax as most people discovered after spending hours watching footage of the empty balloon travelling across the sky. The good news is, they finally admitted it was all a sham!

Richard and Mayumi Heene, the parents of the “missing” boy, both pled guilty to different charges. Richard pled guilty to attempting to influence a public servant while Mayumi pled guilty to false reporting to authorities, both serious crimes. Mayumi, having Japanese citizenship, could even be deported for committing a misdemeanour. She could also face up to six months in a county jail and a fine of up to $750. Richard can face from two to six years in a state prison and a fine of up to $500,000. However, because they agreed to turn themselves in to authorities and plead guilty, Richard can only receive 90 days in prison and Mayumi 60 days.

The Heenes had participated twice in the reality television show, Wife Swap, and this hoax makes it clear that they were probably just looking for more publicity. Their 15 minutes of fame ended while being interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on the Larry King Live show and Falcon, the youngest of three sons (Balloon Boy), revealed that he didn't come out of the attic when called because they were “doing this for the show.” Authorities spend hours looking for the lost boy when he was hiding in his family’s garage the entire time. This wasn't just a regular game of hide and seek.

Falcon’s mother originally confessed to the police that it was a hoax, although Richard denied it was for publicity. Records show that Mayumi admitted that she and Richard had devised the deed two weeks prior to the incident so that their family could gain more media exposure and had even created the infamous balloon for that particular purpose. She also stated that she and Richard had forced their three children to lie to the media and authorities about their silly stunt. Admittedly, this was a creative yet childish way to get media exposure.

Now, I know they aren't exactly celebrities (they wish!) but lets give them an extra minute of fame for being so ridiculously cunning.