SEATTLE – The young Washington state man who gained international notoriety during a two-year run from the law in stolen boats, cars and planes pleaded guilty Friday to seven charges in the “Barefoot Bandit” case.
Under a plea agreement, Colton Harris-Moore would forfeit any future earnings from movie, book or other deals from selling his story. Earnings would be used to pay off the $1.4 million in restitution he owes to his many victims.
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Harris-Moore could receive between 5¼ and 6½ years in prison when he’s sentenced in October, defense attorney John Henry Browne said.
However, he still faces several dozen charges in four Washington counties.
Prosecutors have said Harris-Moore hopscotched his way across the United States, frequently crash-landing planes in rural areas and stealing cars from parking lots at small airports.
His escapades earned him cult status as an authority-mocking folk hero, and he earned the “Barefoot Bandit” moniker by committing some of crimes without shoes.
Harris-Moore, now 20, smiled and greeted his lawyers as he entered the court room Friday. He sat quietly as federal Judge Richard Jones went over the details of the crimes.
“We’re here today to say that Mr. Harris-Moore’s flight from justice has ended,” U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said after the hearing. He will “spend a significant time in prison and will not make one dime from his crimes.”
The federal charges, which included stealing an aircraft, possession of firearms and piloting without a license, stemmed from a spate of crimes in late 2009 and early 2010, when Harris-Moore was accused of flying a stolen plane from Anacortes, in northwestern Washington, to the San Juan Islands.
Authorities say he later stole a pistol in eastern British Columbia and took a plane from a hangar in Idaho, where investigators found bare footprints on the floor and wall. That plane crashed near Granite Falls, Wash., after it ran out of fuel, prosecutors said.
He made his way to Oregon in a 32-foot boat stolen in southwestern Washington — stopping first to leave $100 at an animal shelter in Raymond, Wash. From Oregon, authorities said, Harris-Moore traveled across the United States.
In Indiana, he stole another plane and made for the Bahamas, where he was captured last July.
Friday’s agreement calls for Harris-Moore to serve his federal sentence concurrently with whatever prison time he may get from the state.
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