Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday pardoned the parents behind the 2009 “Balloon Boy” hoax, saying Richard and Mayumi Heene have suffered enough since claiming their 6-year-old son was trapped inside a silver saucer-shaped helium balloon that had flown away from their Fort Collins home.
Speaking from his Gainesville, Florida, home, Richard Heene told The Denver Post that until Wednesday afternoon, he and his wife hadn’t heard anything about their year-old pardon application. But then he received a call from an unknown number Wednesday, let it go to voicemail and heard the message from the governor’s office.
“As soon as I come down, I’ll let you know,” Heene said. “I’m flying high. This is just fantastic.”
Polis granted clemency to 20 others, including commuting the sentences of a man who received one of the longest prison terms in state history for a white collar crime and another who became a rallying point for those who want the governor to reduce the state’s prison population as the coronavirus pandemic rages behind bars.
Others receiving clemency were habitual drug offenders or people convicted of crimes such as burglary and forgery.
Of the 22 who received clemency, 18 were pardoned, meaning their criminal convictions will be erased from their records. The remaining four had their prison sentences commuted, meaning they will be released on parole on Jan. 15. Polis called the clemency a second chance.
“These individuals have taken responsibility for their past actions, paid a price to society and demonstrated the ability to turn themselves around and live responsibly,” he said in a statement.
Since pandemic began in March, advocates for those in prison have pushed the governor to release older and medically vulnerable inmates who are at-risk of dying or suffering severe health problems if they catch COVID-19. They were disappointed that Polis did not release more people.
“For all of our advocacy around this issue, it’s disappointing the governor is only letting four people out,” said Denis Maes, the ACLU of Colorado’s public policy director. “When you look at his press release about all this mercy and redemption, four people doesn’t really do that.”
“The balloonacy has ended”
Although Mayumi and Richard Heene served minor sentences for charges stemming more than a decade ago, the Balloon Boy incident gained national notoriety and is still talked about in Colorado.
People across the country followed the journey of the handmade device that floated more than 50 miles before crashing in a Weld County field — only to be found empty when it landed. A deputy thought he had seen something fall from the balloon, prompting a massive search for the boy that involved the National Guard.
It ultimately ended when the young boy, Falcon, came out from hiding in his parents’ attic. After the incident, Falcon said in a TV interview that was “for the show,” and his mother later told investigators that the whole incident was a hoax. But the couple has since maintained that they truly believed their son was in the balloon, and they only pleaded guilty because they were pressured to do so to avoid Mayumi Heene’s potential deportation to Japan. She was a Japanese national at the time and has since become a U.S. citizen.
Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false reporting to authorities and Richard Heene to felony attempting to influence a public servant.
“You and your husband were involved in a very high profile incident that garnered attention across Colorado and across the country,” Polis wrote in his letter to Mayumi Heene. “You wrote to me that you regret that anything you did could have caused anyone harm or inconvenience. I believe you and trust that the legal and social consequences you have suffered in the intervening years will prevent you from ever repeating your past mistakes.”
David Lane, who represented Richard Heenes in the criminal case and helped the couple apply for their pardon, said, after 11 years, “the balloonacy has ended.”
Richard Heene said he and his wife are excited for the opportunity to move past the 2009 incident. He plans to focus his efforts working with his sons on their business, and now, without a felony on his record, vote and maybe even apply to get on the television show “Shark Tank.”
“This is like a new launch,” he added.
Sentences cut for older offenders
Others who received clemency served much longer sentences than the Heenes.
Anthony Martinez was sentenced in 1989 to life in prison with the possibility for parole on a second-degree burglary conviction and to a five-year sentence in 1993 for second-degree assault. Now 84 years old and suffering from kidney failure and dementia, Martinez is a plaintiff in lawsuit against the governor and the Colorado Department of Corrections over the dangers of the coronavirus inside prisons.
Now, with his sentence commuted, Martinez will be released Jan. 15 and will live with a niece in Pennsylvania who agreed to care for him, Maes said.
“He certainly is not a danger to the community,” Maes said.
Polis’s letter to Martinez said he was receiving clemency “based on the circumstances of your case alone.” The letter did not mention the lawsuit.
While Martinez’s clemency letter did not mention COVID-19, Polis wrote to Frederic Dryer that his advanced age and multiple health conditions put him at risk of catching the virus.
Dryer, the founder of a bankrupt investment company, has served 11 years of his sentence for securities fraud, theft and racketeering related to a Ponzi scheme. He was initially sentenced to more than 130 years, but appealed his case and was resentenced to 84 years.
But Dryer’s health, age — he’s 72 — and work inside the prison to advocate for his fellow inmates led to the commutation, Polis wrote.
“The warden, as well as your case manager, describe you as an example or ‘model’ inmate,” the governor wrote.
Others who received clemency were:
Pardons
- Adrian E. Acosta, pleaded guilty in 1995 to marijuana possession in Pueblo County
- Jane T. Brueckner, pleaded guilty to harassment in 1999 in Boulder County
- John F. Buehler, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree burglary in 1994 in Summit County
- Darrel F. Carson, pleaded guilty to distribution of a controlled substance in 1992 in Jefferson County
- Thomas B. Crawford, pleaded guilty to menacing in 1998 in Mesa County
- Kevin R. Fox, pleaded guilty to obstructing a peace officer in 1999 in Mesa County
- Chad A. Larsen, pleaded guilty to distribution of marijuana in 2003 in El Paso County
- Carlos A. Luna-Cano, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in 2014 in Denver
- Wayne Nguyen, pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to first-degree criminal trespass in 1997 in Jefferson County
- Michael D. L. Nielsen, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of scheduled substance in 2008 in Mesa County
- Timothy A. Ortiz, pleaded guilty to prohibited use of a weapon in 2000 in Denver
- Esther Perez Carrillo, pleaded guilty to theft between $100 to $500 in 2006 in Adams County
- Jeffrey James Sempek, pleaded guilty to theft between $100 and $500 in 2003 in El Paso County
- Beth M. Stone, pleaded guilty to forgery in 2005 in Denver
- Esther Perez Carrillo, pleaded guilty to manufacturing a controlled substance and possessing a controlled substance in 2002 in Morgan County
- Lisa L. White, pleaded guilty to criminal attempt — robbery in 1982 in Jefferson County.
Commutations
- William J. Goble, sentenced to 96 years in prison for manufacture or sale of a controlled substance, drug and paraphernalia possession and for being a habitual criminal
- Frederick C. Harris, sentenced to 96 years in prison for drug distribution
