we know you're going on to great things and we wish you the best. >> that's it for 360. thanks for watching. larry king starts now. larry: tonight, richard heene, the dad who led the whole country to believe his son was trapped in a runaway balloon. he's here, in his interview before he reports to jail this monday. >> this was not a hoax. >> larry: so what was it? heene tells us what really happened, and why he pled guilty. >> i'm going to fight to the death on this thing. >> larry: and how the ordeal has impacted the whole family. >> i'm sorry. >> larry: the sheriff who once believed him and the district attorney who prosecuted him will respond, all right now on "larry

king live." good evening. two and a half months ago the whole country it seems feared that a little boy in colorado had floated away in a balloon made by his father. it turned out that falcon heene was safe at home while authorities chased after the craft, hoping for a rescue. richard heene was prosecuted, will serve jail time for what some are calling a hoax. he's here with us tonight and wait until you see later what he brought with him. thanks for coming, richard. you're due to start 30 days of straight jail time and then what, 06 days of what do they call it? >> work release. >> larry: you can work and go back to jail at night? >> correct. >> larry: nervous? >> i'm very nervous, because i'm going to be away from my family, and i've always been there to protect them, you know, be the father. >> larry: and you got three, right? >> i got three little boys.

and a wife. >> larry: your wife will serve after you're finished? >> right. >> larry: she'll do what, 20 days? >> 20 days of she spends the night at our house, goes there and does some work, comes back out. so about eight hours a day. >> larry: think that's fair? >> i think it's very unfair, because what she got was a misdemeanor, and the plea deal was set up in such a way to where i thought she was not going to get any jail time, and i don't mind taking the jail time myself. they could have given me -- >> larry: you would do the extra 20. >> i would have. >> larry: that she got. authorities say the incident was a hoax planned and orchestrated by you and you pled guilty. are you disputing that? >> i'm not disputing the fact that i did have to plead guilty, and when i say have to, i had to do it to save my family and my wife. >> larry: how so? >> the threat of deportation was imminent. >> larry: deporting who? >> my wife. >> larry: to where? >> japan.

we had applied eight years ago for some paperwork, things got fouled up, we had to reapply. she should have been an american citizen by now but anyway, i can't break up my family. it would be absolutely disastrous to have dhs come in, regulate us. >> larry: so they told you if you don't plead guilty they would deport your wife? >> no, they never said that. but the topic came up. if we had endured, if i had said i'm not guilty, we would have to endure two to three years of the trial process. i wouldn't be able to go to work. i mean, who is going to hire me? and attorneys' fees would be, you know, extremely high. my wife would be going through this immense torture, my kids through school. did i want to put my kids through all that? i took the easy way out at this juncture, and that is to go ahead and take that plea. >> larry: you and the wife were sentenced in late december. at the time your attorney said what you did was wrong and what

had taken place was your fault. let's take a look at the brief statement you made to the court. watch. >> i'm very, very sorry and i'm going to apologize to all the rescue workers out there and the people that got involved in the community. >> larry: your attorney said you were wrong. obviously you did something wrong. obviously if the kid wasn't in and you knew he wasn't in. >> no, no, absolutely not. >> larry: what -- >> first off, okay. i need to clarify. when i apologized on the clip you just showed, i was apologizing for people getting involved, okay? this was not a hoax. never was. >> larry: what was it? >> never was. >> larry: what was it?

>> the incident that occurred, well, people are calling it a balloon. it's not. it's what i call a 3d lav. this is a family experiment. we do quite a few of these type of projects together. on that day, when falcon was in and out of this project, we told him many times to stay out, you know, don't get in it. it's dangerous because things could happen. so on that day, when we couldn't find him after it had taken off i was losing my mind. i was up and down this ladder. i gave you guys some footage, by the way, that the police did not take. i don't know why they left this behind, it was sitting on the table, a camera, four hours of footage which in my opinion would have shown that we were innocent, but we had searched the house, high and low, and -- i'm sorry. >> larry: it's okay.

>> and after i saw him in this craft, and bradford telling me that he went inside, i first didn't believe bradford, and i told him that will perhaps he's around. i just saw him, and -- >> larry: sum and substance you believed your son was in the craft? >> i knew he was in the craft. when i made the call. >> larry: you didn't know it because he wasn't. >> no, in my mind, in my mind. there was no other place because i visualized him, i yelled at him to not go in, and so i called the faa because when i was on the roof, it was heading straight for loveland airport. i'm a certified level one with nar, national association of rocketry. whenever you launch high-powered rockets you call for faa clearance, what i'm used to doing. >> larry: you also called the television station apparently? >> i called for a helicopter. i want to make that very clear. i called the faa. they told me, and i asked them

if they had a helicopter, she told me i had to call 911. i called 911. i have given you guys the actual phone records to prove that, and this is what everybody's got all wrong. after the 9/11 call after two minutes of me talking about it, it went to ft. collins city. it was not recorded at larimer county. they transferred it later on. so after i give the phone to mayumi you can hear me clearly in the background talking to what i say is the people in the helicopter. sheehaned me a number and say call them. she didn't say call channel 9 news. >> larry: i don't want to get confused here. mayumi is your wife. took a polygraph test, showed deception on key questions. according to police she told them you and she had instructed your children to lie to authorities during and after the october 15th incident. police are saying that's what your wife told them. >> did you tell the boys what you were doing?

>> we told them. >> and how did you get them to go along with it? did you just ask them to act like their brother got up in the plane or up in the balloon or -- >> yeah, something like that. >> larry, you're asking the question, i'm going to go serve 90 days in their backyard and i will say that things were not portrayed as they really were. i've got audio and video comparing the two, and -- >> larry: it wouldn't have taken three years. you could have gotten -- you could have gone to trial, ask for a quick trial in this country. you could have gone to trial in 60 days. >> well -- >> larry: why didn't you fight it? >> well, david told me, he said, "richard, this will be an easier way out." >> larry: david is your lawyer?

>> my attorney -- >> larry: even though you know you didn't do anything wrong? >> exactly. >> larry: your attorney advises you to say you did something wrong? >> no. >> larry: he then says you did something wrong? >> what he did was lay out the opportunities in front of me, and this goes back -- >> larry: he said you were wrong in court. >> my attorney said that? >> larry: yeah. >> i don't recall him ever saying that. >> larry: at least i -- all right. the crux of it here, on this show, the little fal korngs wolf blitzer was hosting, your son made a comment that effectively blew the whistle on you eventually getting you in big legal trouble. we're going to talk about that right after this.

there is a little boy in this aircraft. >> search teams are scouring the area from the house in the direction that the balloon flew. >> we have confirmed outside the home that the child's name is falcon who was on board the air kroost right now. >> he floated away from his

family's home on an experimental aircraft. >> the son is the one that came in and told them his brother had climbed in the basket when it took off. >> one of them crawled on board, the 6-year-old falcon and the other child just watched it take off and ran in to tell his parents. >> larry: just hours, we're back with richard heene, by the way if you just joined us. just hours after the balloon touched down and it was found that your younger son had been hiding in your garage attic, your family appeared on this show. wolf blitzer was guest hosting. during the interview falcon said something that raised a whole lot of questions about what had really happened and why. let's take a look. >> and falcon did you hear us calling your name at any time? >> um-hum. >> you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? mya said that we did this for a show. >> no. >> you didn't come out? >> no.

>> larry: authorities, richard, specifically cited falcon's words as part of probable cause they had for believing you'd committed a criminal offense. he said you did it for a show. >> okay, well first off, let's take into consideration he's only been speaking english and just learned three and a half years prior to that. he's 6 years old during this interview. number one. number two, i had gotten back into the house, after the initial talking to the press in front of my house, i opened the garage door to get my family back inside, away from these guys, and i looked over, and there was 30 to 40 camera guys. i asked falcon after that, i asked him, i said why did you say that? what are you talking about? he said a japanese cameraman with a giant camera asked him to show him how he got into the attic for his tv show, that's why falcon answered that. >> larry: he didn't mean that you were doing it for a proposed tv show? >> no.

>> larry: he was doing it to show them what he was doing? >> exactly, so he and bradford both were standing there, showing. >> larry: i'm back to the original. why the hell did you plead guilty then if all of these circumstances are true you had a story to tell. why didn't you tell it? >> well, again, it goes back to saving my family. >> larry: from what? >> the threat of my wife being deported. >> larry: you said they never made that specific threat. >> well, when we sat down with lee christiansen and david lane -- >> larry: the prosecutors? >> the attorneys, i never got to speak to the prosecutors, by the way, but they both laid it out and they said, look, public opinion has been swayed, the media is against you, and the threat of deportation and i'm thinking, where are we going to find 12 jurors anywhere who's going to think that, you know, they're not going to held a middle ground. they've already been swayed. >> larry: you gave us you mentioned home video of the balloon taking off. let's watch your home video.

>> all right. >> three, two, one! >> one! whoa! >> oh, my god. are you in there? get the tether [ bleep ] now. >> i did, i did. i did. >> come on, man! >> i did. >> dad, dad! >> mayumi, get the [ bleep ] tether now. falcon was in the ship. >> mayumi, i told you to tie down the bleep tethers. >> i did. >> no, you never listen to a [ bleep ] i say. the whole [ bleep ] thing gone. shut [ bleep ]. >> falcon's in there. >> shut up. [ bleep ] >> where? >> in the ship? >> he was just here. >> no, he's in there. >> what? >> he's in there, i saw him crawl in. >> no, he's not. >> yeah.

>> he was just right here. >> no. >> duncan. duncan. >> nowhere. >> larry: the kid who told you he saw falcon in there, what did he see? >> well, i think the last thing he literally saw -- >> larry: couldn't have seen falcon in there? so why was the kid yelling "i see falcon in there when he wasn't in there. he said that. >> no, no, falcon had walked up to him and said that he was going to sneak inside, and this was after four or five times of me telling him not to go in there. he's known to go and hide. this is what he does, likes to hide. >> larry: the kid didn't see him go in there. >> no, no, he did. he saw him go in. >> larry: then what? >> we went outside and took a break when the incident occurred. i didn't hear him say it. i didn't see him going in, and after the break, we had two

sliding glass doors, bradford i guess ran around to one side. he was going to tell me that nervous there and he never did indicate anything to me. so he either forgot, i don't know what happened. but -- and then when we were going to test the levitation of this thing. >> larry: so you're swearing that none of that was staged? >> no, nothing. >> larry: you didn't do that film to be staged? >> not at all. >> larry: there's the kid yelling that he's on the craft when's not on the craft looks suspicious. >> i'm not following you. >> larry: well, the kid is yelling, "falcon's on the" whatever you call it. >> right. >> larry: right? but he wasn't. >> well, according to bradford, he absolutely knew that he was inside. so evidently it was a little thing -- >> larry: bradford was mistaken. yeah loish richard's brought us something to show you. announcer: cialis asks, when is it time

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maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique. we did this for a show. >> man. >> authorities say this whole thing was an elaborate hoax, it was scripted by the boy's dad, richard heene. >> in terms of this being an alleged hoax, this is what millions of people had suspected all along. >> was this some sort of publicity stunt? was this a hoax? >> absolutely no hoax. >> it wasn't until the larry king show where the family was interviewed that we had the first a-ha moment. >> larry: we're back with richard heene. let's go back to october 15th, here's some of the 911 call that you made that day. >> my family and i made an experimental flying saucer, it wasn't supposed to fly. >> okay. >> we thought we had the thing

tethered down. >> okay. >> and my, i think my 6-year-old boy -- >> what's wrong? >> ii -- he got inside and it took off. yeah. >> okay, where is he at? >> he's in the air. >> he's in the air? >> yeah. he's only 6. he's only 6. >> larry: by the way, just so we set this record straight under the terms of your sentence you can't get any form of financial benefit. "larry king live" doesn't pay for interviews, so just to confirm, you are not paid to be here. >> i'm not paid to be here. we drove here. >> larry: all right. well, the morning after your family's interview on "larry king live" you all did several other tv shows. it became clear falcon wasn't feeling well. let's take a look at that. >> i feel like i'm going to vomit. >> oh. >> are you okay, buddy? >> no. >> yeah, he's, i think he's queasy. what he was referring to.

>> larry: why didn't you cut that will off when he got sick? why didn't you end the tv interview? >> i wanted to but there was somebody on the side telling me to go back, go back. >> larry: even though your kid's sick? >> i know. >> larry: they don't rule you. >> well, that's true. but i didn't know -- you know, and the other thing, i only had one hour of sleep. so we had camera people out in front of our house, lights shining through my window, i couldn't sleep and then they tell us we've got to wake up early in the morning or i'm trying to think. which one this is, this is the morning? >> larry: i guess, yeah. >> okay so by that time, i had one hour of sleep, you know. >> larry: is it true, richard that, you were looking to do some sort of reality show? >> from this thing? no. >> larry: from -- you wanted to be on television, you wanted to have some sort of reality show? >> no, no, let me clarify that. we were asked to be on abc's "wife swap." they were looking for a storm chase family. it was presented to us so we thought that, sounds like it

might be fun. i didn't know what the show was about and i'm not about to swap my wife out for something weird, and it turns out the show was good. so i thought, well, there's a message at the end. and then they invited us to be back on a second time. they also thought of a great idea to give us our own show so they asked me to put together some ideas. i had worked my tail off putting together some ideas to submit it to them and i mean, that's the way that whole -- >> larry: it had no connection to this? >> no, absolutely no connection. >> larry: you also apparently just to set the record straight, called a tv station, kusa in denver, lots of reports that you called the faa and the tv station before 911. >> that's not true. that's an out and out lie. i'm saying that's a lie because i have the actual interview when i was being interviewed by the police in the interrogation and i told them exactly how i made the phone calls. an hourlarity, they're filling out paperwork telling a judge the opposite. they're the ones that said that.

i've never said that. i know how i made the phone calls. anyway, i gave you guys the tape to show it and i gave you the text to show how they submitted it. >> larry: how is your family doing? how is falcon doing? >> you know, my kids -- >> larry: is he taking the blame for this, or is he too young to? >> no, no. i mean my kids are doing great. they weren't harassed in school, and one kid asked him, you know, a question about it and that's been it. >> larry: the larimer county sheriff, jim alderden raised another potential red flag during a news conference october 18th, the same day he announced the balloon incident had been determined to be a hoax. let's watch him. >> clearly from all indications mr. heene has somewhat of a temper. we did our best yesterday prior to releasing them to get the spouse to voluntarily go to a safehouse. we had our victim advocates. we talked with her at length

about domestic violence, about her safety, about the children's safety. >> larry: are you a violent person? do you get angry easily? >> i get angry within myself. i get frustrated with myself, but i don't get angry at my wife, i don't get angry with my kids and if i'm angry with my kids it's that, you know, they're fighting. >> larry: you don't yell at your wife or your children? >> i raise my voice but i don't yell. you understand the difference, right? okay, but no, i'm not a violent man. so for them to, for you guys to bring this up, it was trash. >> larry: okay. i'm just telling you what the sheriff brought it up. >> right. >> larry: in his investigation, he brought it up. richard, by the way, engineered the balloon. you don't call it a balloon, right? >> it's not a balloon, not a weather balloon. it's got nothing to do with weather. >> larry: it's from common household items. we're going to see how he put it all together ahead.

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joining us for a few moments is rupert hitzig, lives in los angeles. he's a friend of the heene family working on a project, including a book. he does not think that this was a hoax. why don't you think so? ruppert has had some successful movies on his own, partnered with alan king. but why do you not believe what the authorities have said? >> based on the character that i know, and i know mayumi better than i know richard because mayumi was my editor for four years. she's an excellent editor. while mayumi was editing my films, i was in a place very close to richard and his three boys and it's a extremely strong and unique family unit. and i even asked richard yes

wasn't -- he was dreaming, he always dreamed about new projects and new projects, and they were having some financial problems, and i asked richard why he wasn't working at something that could bring his family some relief. he said, well, i'm a carpenter but i need a truck, and i thought enough of richard at that point to go down to toyota and cosign for a $36,000 tundra and that was in 2004 and every payment has been made on time, and i just think that -- >> larry: what do you make of this story? >> i wasn't there. i just know that falcon -- they arrived yesterday. they're staying in our back house. the three boys are just wonderful kids. the family unit is a great little family unit. when falcon was there, it was the most unique thing that happened. i was showing them the back and all of the sudden falcon was missing. mayumi said where is falcon. the boys looked around. we didn't find falcon. he had climbed into some, past our lattice and gone in under the foundation and he was hiding. i just -- look, i'm a little bit

off-track for your question, and the question is, why do i believe it's not a hoax. because mayumi has told me we did not lie. i believe mayumi. >> larry: one other thing to you, rupert, why did he plead guilty do you think? >> i think it's a difference between the chance of having the felony charge and the misdemeanor. i think in his particular case he just wanted it behind him, i think. i can't speak for richard on that. >> larry: he's making the case here tonight that he's innocent. >> i know, if in fact the deportation was a threat, and if the chance of being accused of going to trial for a felony as opposed to a misdemeanor and deportation was an alternative, he wanted it out of the way as fast as he could. >> larry: you do chase things. why didn't you chase, what do you call it if you don't call it a balloon? it's called a 3d lav, low altitude vehicle. >> larry: why didn't you chase him? >> i wanted to.

my wife was charging up the cell phone. i thought i should chase it. maybe i should inform authorities it's going to be the -- straight for the airport. after the faa called i wanted to jump in the vehicle and go and the woman said no, you better call 911. i said i want to chase this thing. she said call 911. >> larry: what woman? >> the woman with the faa. so then, i did call 911, and i mean, you guys have the recording. you can play all that. but i was there in length, i don't know, 15, 0 minutes and then i -- >> larry: but if you do chase things, wouldn't that be the first thing you would do, chase it for your boy? >> it's what i wanted to do. when i climbed on the roof and saw this thing taking off, gaining altitude, and speed, and headed straight for the airport, all i could think about is i got to warn somebody because i've just built this craft that could possibly kill my kid, and i just wanted him safe, and anyway. >> i did see the records, larry, and i do know he made the call to 911 first, then he called the faa --

>> larry: he didn't call the tv station. >> he didn't call a tv station for a good 15 minutes. >> larry: let's get a break and come right back and show you what this is like, he'll show us where he thought falcon was. look at it. we're going to go take a look at it right after this. they loved ! judy, great job on the printing! i'm amanda. tom. james. nice job on the brochures and letterhead. louis, keep up the good work with our shipments. it's -- it's peter. great job, everybody! that's a closet. you know what, guys? take the afternoon off! we can't. that is why i hired you. world's proudest boss. [ male announcer ] we understand. you can never have too much help. fedex office. sfx: can shaking op too much help. when you own a business, nothing beats the sound of saving time and money. and it's never been simpler to save - with regions lifegreen checkg and savings for business. you'll enjoy free online and mobile banking. and with regions quick deposit, you can deposit checks right from your desk.

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>> larry: okay. we're back with richard heene and right behind us is a replica of the notorious flying saucer, for want of a better term we'll call it, balloon. where is the original? >> the police have that in a garage. >> larry: all right, they have it as evidence or was going to be evidence? >> it was going to be, uh-huh. >> larry: this replica is the same size? >> identical, i used the same

exact jig to manufacture this one, to show you i was never lying about the size of it. >> larry: looks like aluminum foil. >> this is the standard household aluminum foil, the plastic is plastic drop. it's 0 .7 mil. what i want to show everybody -- >> larry: wait a minute, someone would go in this and you would go in this and go up? >> well, this is a smaller version of what i ultimately want to make. i want to make a 30-foot one which could lift a human and maybe have races in the desert between people. >> larry: but this flies? >> yes. >> larry: okay. what do you want to show me? >> i wanted to show you i was never lying about the measurement. everybody's questioning could this the thing possibly lift up a little boy. you go ahead and hold on to that. what we're going to do is measure half of the length of just one span. what do you have? >> larry: i got 121. >> 121, that's ten feet, okay so you multiply that by two, 20

foot across and then when i'm standing in it, in the middle, i'm 5'8". it's quite higher than i am. i never did lie. >> larry: they said you were lying about that a kid could go up in it? >> they said a professor jones from uc -- was it csu, sorry, and they said his original measurements said it could lift a child. later on after they get it in the garage they claim it's 15 feet wide by 5 feet wide. with the bands they expand up to 6'9". >> larry: what is this? >> the utility compartment, 1'6" high and it's a four-foot circle. >> larry: how do we know it's the same size? i'll take your word? >> well, you could, okay, that's four feet across. anybody who knows photoshop could take the images off the television, measure the four feet at the base, piece it in, one, two, three four five across and you'll see that it's 20

feet. now, why they had mismeasured it in the garage, i have no idea but i looked at the wall span and looked to me like the room was only 16 feet wide. they didn't open it up. >> larry: you wouldn't get into this to go up will you? >> i will once i determine whether or not i have enough power to move left and right, eventually a 30-footer could lift 450 pounds. >> larry: does the opening to the compartment close automatically? does it latch? >> no, it was just a piece of cardboard. >> larry: authorities and many aviation experts do not think this balloon could have had the lift to take off and fly with a child of falcon's size in it. >> when you calculate how much helium that the 6' to 6'6" center by 20 feet across plus the fact it was ballooned between the ribs i calculate it could lift 72 pounds but the helium just kept going in past where i thought it was going to be. then i didn't know how much it

had. perhaps it had 1,100 cubic feet in there, but this portion right here weighs 19 pounds. that with the framing in it weighed up to 11 pounds. >> larry: sure feels a little flimsy. i wouldn't go up in this. a lot of people would say that. >> larry: i wouldn't go up in anything. >> this is the bottom half. each string can lift 70 pounds, there's 19 around the outer perimeter, we calculated roughly 1,300 pounds of strength tension. obviously, the bottom wouldn't hold that much as far as the plywood is concerned. >> larry: couple other quick things. are you sorry you pled guilty? >> i am sorry that i pled guilty. i wish i could have taken this thing to trial. i kept asking over and over why should i plead guilty. if i put my family -- i'm looking at two to three years of torture potentially. i was going to fight to the death on this thing, and i just don't want to put my kids through that. >> larry: what are you going to do when you're done with your 90-day commitment? >> i've got to start a new life.

you know? i mean, this is just a negative setback, and i'm hoping to clear my name to let everybody know that this was not a hoax. >> larry: going to keep living where you're living? >> i don't know. depends on how the people treat me. if they treat me nasty i guess i've got to up and leave but so far they've been pretty good. >> larry: you'll be in a jail, right? not a prison. 90 days you don't go to prison. >> yeah. david says that's one of the better jails, and hopefully i won't get beat up. who knows? >> larry: why would you get up? >> i don't know, i watch movies and see people getting beat up. >> larry: thanks for coming. >> yes, thank you. >> larry: good luck to you. the sheriff and prosecutor have been watching our interview with richard heene and listening.

>> he's been hiding in a box, cardboard box in the attic above the garage. >> i was in the attic, and he scared me because he yelled at me. >> i'm really sorry i yelled at

him. >> we got him. >> you scared the heck out of us. >> larry: we're joined now by two men who know this case inside and out. sheriff jim alderden is the sheriff of larimer county, colorado and larry abramson, district attorney, they come to us from ft. collins. sheriff, what's your reaction to what mr. heene had to say tonight? >> well, i just saw the interview that you did with him a few minutes ago and quite honestly i'm shocked that he would make such statements. the evidence against mr. heene and mayumi at this point is really overwhelming. there's no doubt in my mind that this thing was a hoax, and i really doubt that there's very few people in america who don't understand at this point that this was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by richard and mayumi. >> larry: larry, what do you make of what he said?

>> well, it's hard to understand why he is now saying what he's saying, because this is something that was discussed very thoroughly with his attorneys, and i was under the impression, as were the other prosecutors in my office, that this was -- the hoax was very clearly established, and so it is surprising that now he is coming out and saying that he was coerced or whatever reason he is now changing his position. >> larry: richard heene as we know pled guilty after his sentencing last month. he offered a short teary apology. let's look at what he said and when i asked him about it. watch. >> i need to clarify when i apologized on the clip you just showed, i was apologizing for people getting involved, okay? this was not a hoax. never was. >> larry: what was it? >> never was. >> larry: what do you make of him saying, sheriff, that he was

apologizing for apparently other things? >> well, when you listen to the interview closely, i guess you could infer that or at least make that argument from his standpoint, but if you back up to the previous hearings where he actually entered the guilty plea, he had to stipulate at that point that there was a factual foundation for the charges and for his guilty plea, and he did so on that date, so i think this is just an effort on his part to spin what he said and to try to rehabilitate his image. >> larry: they -- he and his wife, larry, took polygraphs, true? >> that's correct. >> larry: and what were the results of those polygraphs? >> well, when the polygraphs were taken, they both, hers was deceptive, and so then very shortly after that is when she basically made her statement, and admitted that the whole thing was a hoax and that it was planned by her and her husband, and the kids were also informed

of what they were going to do. his polygraph i don't think was completed, because the fact that he was doing some things that would make it unreliable so i don't think his was ever completed. >> larry: after the sentencing, both of you indicated you thought it was appropriate. have you changed your mind on that based on what he's saying now? do you think he, having to do it over again, sheriff, he should get more time? >> no, i really don't think so. i mean, this was a giant hoax perpetrated on everybody. i think people are upset about it. obviously, there's a lot of resources that were wasted, but the fact is, as overcrowded as our jails are, as overcrowded as our judicial system is, you know, a longer jail sentence really wouldn't serve the interests of justice and i think it's fair, given the issues and complexity of the things that we're dealing with here in our criminal justice system. >> larry: what about the statement, larry, that they were going to deport his wife?

>> well, you know, initially the news report was, and i believe it was a statement, and i don't know if it came from his attorney or where, that they were concerned about her being deported if she pled to a felony and they were being forced into this plea. that, her deportation was never an issue on the table. that was something they perhaps talked about among themselves but it was nothing we laid on the table and said listen, this is what we need to have, this is what you're risking. this was something apparently they had discussed, but it was never a bargaining chip from our perspective, and i don't think it even came up in discussions other than perhaps they're trying to figure out if that was a possibility. >> larry: we'll be right back with the response to the heene interview from sheriff jim alderden and district attorney larry abrahamson after this.

>> larry: sheriff alderden held several news conferences as the balloon boy case unfolded in october. not everything he said to the media was totally accurate. and then he knew it. we've got two clips. the first october 16th. the day after the incident. the second the 18th. the day the sheriff declared it all had been a hoax. watch. >> we were convinced yesterday after talking to the parents and having investigators on scene during the duration of this event that the parents were being honest with us. it's not a criminal offense to, perhaps, lie to them to get them in here or establish a relationship to get them in here. i personally have to say i feel very bad and i think we came up and bumped against the line of misleading the media, and that is something i really take to heart that we don't do. >> larry: sheriff, what happened in the two days? >> well, on the first day when we approached the media and dealt with them, the

investigators really did believe that this thing still was legitimate and that it was not a hoax. some of us had our doubts, but, you know, it was really kind of a split decision. we decided we needed to get the heenes in here and gain their cooperation in order to, perhaps, polygraph them and get a confession. that was the only way we were going to get to the bottom of this. if i had put out anything to the media that would cause the heenes to suspect that we suspected them, i think we would have lost that cooperation. so it was real important for me to at least put on a face to the public that we didn't have any real legitimate suspicions at that point. obviously some of us did, when they came in and confessed, it was necessary to reveal the hoax. maybe i should have kept my mouth shut and not been honest and told everybody that we had our doubts. but that's not the way we operate. and again, i'm culpable for that. in the interest of justice i

felt it was necessary to do that at that time. >> larry: you appeared to be between a rock and a hard place. do you think the media understand that? >> i think the majority of the media did. i've had several high oh profile media personalities here in colorado contact me and tell me that it was acceptable, and quite honestly, immediately after our first press conference, i confided in several of the media people about what our doubts were and the fact that -- what the strategy was to get them in. >> larry: we'll be right back with sheriff jim aldrerden and sheriff abrahamson after this. . my bayer meter is very important. (announcer) only bayer's contour meter has programmable personal high low settings. it allows me to be able to look at my highs and lows to make sure that my diabetes is being controlled as tightly as possible. with my bayer meter i don't miss valuable game time. i'm alana burns and staying in the game is my simple win. (announcer) the contour meter, only from bayer. people think that honda is always the most fuel efficient choice.

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>> larry: larry abrahamson, what is your opinion of mr. heene? what do you think of him? >> well, it -- you know, all i know of him is what i've seen and what i observed in the courtroom. and what i've seen on the media. but from what i understand he's an actor. he's taken acting lessons. he originally came up with the hoax idea that was later shown to be untrue. and now he's sort of back pedalling again and for what reason i'm not sure. he claims it's because he's trying to protect his wife, but that was pretty well aired in the discussion with his attorney and his attorneys' discussions with him i'm sure.

but you know, i'm not sure what his motivation it at this point. i thought this thing had ended in a way that everybody was reasonably satisfied with the conclusion, and now this. so i'm not sure where he's going with this. >> larry: sheriff, do you ever feel a little sorry for him? he certainly appears good at getting empathy. >> well, he does. but no, i have no empathy or sympathy for the heenes at this point. he put this whole thing in motion. i think maybe there's an adage about being careful what you wish for. he wanted publicity and he certainly got it. but i'm not sure it's the kind he wanted. >> larry: what would you guess is the long-range effect, larry, on the kids? >> well, that's hard to say. you know, the department of human services interviewed the kids, and they felt that at this point in time at least there wasn't any compelling reason to take them out of the home, but,

you know, you would think something that has this much exposure in the media and everything going on around the family, that the kids are going to have a reaction somehow. i would hope that the kids can see this for what it is and that it's not going to affect them. i'm concerned, now, of course, with the new statements that mr. heene is making and how confused the kids must be about all of this. so, you know, it's hard to say. i would hope it's not going to have an effect that's going to be disastrous on the kids or something that's going to cause some difficulty, but you know, it's hard to say at this point. >> larry: sheriff, where will he serve his time? >> well, he'll do his 30 days right next to the building we're in now, larry, at the larimer county detention center, and after the 30 days, i assume he's going to go to work release if he qualifies. and that will be in a building

or actually an addition to the jail. it's a nonsecure facility. and he'd be allowed to go to his day job and then return at night. >> larry: that starts monday. what if he doesn't have a day job? >> well, if he doesn't have a day job there's a possibility he could just have to do the straight 90 days in the detention center instead of being in work release. >> larry: and will the wife serve in the same place? >> she'll serve in the same place or at least checking in. but i believe that she's going to be going to a program we call work enders, which is different. those are inmates who come in usually on a saturday morning. they're sent out on an inmate work crew working for public service agencies or non-profits, and for eight hours. then they come back. they're released. they go home. they come back the next day and do that two days a week until their sentence is served. >> larry: thank you both very much for clearing things up. sheriff jim alderman, the sheriff of laramie county