Published: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

Updated: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

Balloon boy's grandmom is from Bradenton

Bradenton resident Rae Sprow says she is standing by her son.

Sprow talked to the Bradenton Herald hours after her son, Richard Heene, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge resulting from a balloon chase that galvanized a global television audience.

On Oct. 15, TV carried live coverage of a spaceship-shaped helium balloon as it floated across 50 miles of Colorado countryside. It was feared that Heene’s 6-year-old son was aboard the balloon, or perhaps had fallen to his death.

Sprow said she always wanted to believe in her son’s innocence.

“He assured me that everything that took place was an accident and was not intended to be a hoax or publicity stunt,” Sprow said. “As a grandmother, my first concern was for my grandson, Falcon, that he was all right.

“When I called my son, he just broke down. A mother knows her son and knows whether he is telling the truth and he was very distraught at the time,” she said.

Heene pleaded guilty to falsely influencing the sheriff who led the rescue effort. His wife, Mayumi Heene, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly filing a false report with emergency services. Prosecutors said she had a lower level of culpability and cooperated with authorities, telling investigators the balloon launch was a publicity stunt two weeks in the making.

The Heenes are amateur storm chasers and had twice appeared on ABC’s “Wife Swap.” Richard Heene’s business associates said he was trying to pitch a TV series based on science, and the couple had a tentative deal in the works with RDF USA, which produces “Wife Swap.”

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden has said the Heenes deliberately released the balloon and falsely reported Falcon may have been inside. The boy was later found safe at the Heenes’ home. “Initially, when I turned on the TV (that day), I didn’t know it was my grandson,” Sprow said. “Someone called me to turn on the TV because there was something going on in Colorado where my son lived. I knew my son had been doing experiments. All of the sudden it flashed on the screen and I knew it was my grandson.

“I was fearful and I prayed,” she said. “We just stayed by the TV and the balloon landed. We were relieved, but then we were worried that he fell out of the balloon.”

Even as the Heenes entered their guilty pleas, their attorneys’ comments in court set off speculation of talk show appearances or other deals. Judge Stephen Schapanski agreed to the attorneys’ request that the couple be allowed to travel to New York and California to explore “employment opportunities.” David Lane, Richard Heene’s lawyer, declined to elaborate as he left the courtroom, and Heene waved off questions. Lane said the couple would have no public comment at least until sentencing, set for Dec. 23. Under terms of the plea agreements, Richard Heene faces up to 90 days in jail, probation and a fine. Mayumi Heene could get 60 days, likely to be served in a work-release program, and probation. Richard Heene also could have to pay restitution for tens of thousands of dollars in costs incurred by police. Without the deal, the charge against Richard Heene carries a possible sentence of two to six years in state prison and a fine of up to $500,000. The charge against his wife is punishable by up to six months in the county jail and a fine up to $750. The deal does not call for removing Falcon or the couple’s other two children — ages 8 and 10 — from the parents’ custody, according to Lane. Sprow said she will do whatever her son needs.