'Barefoot Bandit' to pay for crime spree that ended in Bahamas

SEATTLE, United States, Monday June 20, 2011 – The ‘Barefoot Bandit’, 20-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty in a US court to seven charges arising with his lengthy crime spree across the United States and ending in the Bahamas.

Harris-Moore, who committed his crimes while barefoot, struck a plea agreement in which the prosecution and defence will recommend between 63 and 78 months in prison.

Additionally, under the terms of the plea agreement, Harris-Moore forfeits any financial gain from telling his story and the proceeds would be used to compensate the victims of his crimes. His illegal activities resulted in at least US$1.4 million in losses to his victims.

“The many years of Mr. Harris-Moore avoiding responsibility for his criminal conduct have come to an end,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan after the young man pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.

“We have ensured he will not profit from his crimes, and that his victims will be compensated to the greatest extent possible. While we cannot stop him from telling his story, we can make sure he never sees a dime for his crimes.”

Harris-Moore will be sentenced on October 28 for bank burglary, two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft, interstate and foreign transportation of a stolen firearm, being a fugitive in possession of a firearm, piloting an aircraft without a valid airman’s certificate, and interstate transportation of a stolen vessel.

“This resolution would not be possible without the remarkable efforts of law enforcement and prosecutors from numerous counties in Washington and other states,” Durkan said.

The statement of facts in Harris-Moore’s plea agreement recounts his series of thefts and burglaries across the U.S and Canada, during 2009 and 2010, including burglary, trying to break into a bank ATM and night deposit box, and stealing two planes, a boat, and two guns.

He stole a third plane on July 4, 2010, from a hangar in Bloomington, Indiana. He crash landed that aircraft when it ran out of fuel on Abaco Island in the Bahamas, and he was arrested in that Caribbean island a few days later.