colton harris moore

‘Barefoot Bandit’ Colton Harris-Moore back in court

Camano Island's own "Barefoot Bandit" and international celebrity fugitive --again pleaded not guilty to a string of burglaries on Thursday. Appearing Thursday in U.S. District Court, Harris-Moore pleaded not guilty to charges contained in a second grand jury indictment filed last month.
The case, however, may be resolved soon.
John Henry Browne, Harris-Moore's attorney, said prosecutors and the defense are "very close" to a plea deal for the Barefoot Bandit. A preliminary draft of the plea deal could be completed later Thursday.
Browne wouldn't offer details of the plea deal but said it would resolve criminal accusations against Harris-Moore in state and federal courts.
Harris-Moore, 20, is facing a slew of charges stemming from his lengthy flight from justice. The alleged plane and boat thief was arrested in the Bahamas after he crashed a stolen aircraft there in July.
Having spent his 20th birthday behind bars at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac in January, Harris-Moore was scheduled to go on trial in July for a string of thefts across the country following his escape from a Renton group home on April 22, 2008.
After his escape, Harris-Moore developed a reputation for committing crimes while barefoot and, on at least one occasion, naked. Investigators claim he also had a taste for planes, stealing as many as five during his two years on the run.
The Camano Island youth is suspected in more than 80 crimes, including several aircraft thefts and assaults on law officers, and would likely face juries in local jurisdictions after the federal case concludes.
In a grand jury indictment handed down May 25, federal prosecutors in Seattle for the first time accused Harris-Moore of a Sept. 5, 2009, break-in at an Orcas Island bank.
Federal prosecutors also claim, in essence, that Harris-Moore should be made to forfeit any rights to his story and be barred from profiting from any sales.
“The property forfeited includes … any and all intellectual property or other proprietary rights belonging to the defendant, based upon or pertaining to any narration, description, publication, dissemination or disclosure of information relating to” the crimes charged, prosecutors said in the indictment.
Prosecutors go on to assert that Harris-Moore should give up “any profits or proceeds received in connection with any publication or dissemination of information relating to illegal conduct.”
Harris-Moore doesn't want to profit from his story, Browne said. But he does want to use any proceeds to pay restitution.
"He does not want to make a dime off of it. He thinks it's wrong. He doesn't want his family to make a dime off of it," Browne said.
The recent indictment followed on new charges filed earlier this year against Harris-Moore by county prosecutors around the state. On May 17, Island County prosecutors charged Harris-Moore with 14 theft-related counts; San Juan County prosecutors recently charged him with 16 similar counts.
The new action by the federal grand jury follows a five-count indictment filed in November accusing Harris-Moore of crimes in British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Federal prosecutors contend Harris-Moore took a stolen .32-caliber pistol from Idaho to Washington, and carried a .22-caliber pistol while on the run in Washington. Harris-Moore is accused of stealing a plane in Idaho, flying it without a license and stealing a boat to travel from Ilwaco, Wash., on the Long Beach peninsula, to Oregon.
Harris-Moore's flight from authorities garnered him thousands of fans and nationwide media attention, to the frustration of Jenny Durkan, U.S. attorney for Western Washington.
"There is nothing in his acts to be admired, and nothing should be glorified," Durkan said following Harris-Moore's arrest. "Real people were hurt by his actions."
Harris-Moore's attorneys contend he was "scared to death" while on the run, and characterized his actions as youthful mistakes.
The young man had been in solitary confinement at the Federal Detention Center, reading National Geographic and making technical drawings of airplanes, his attorneys said. His attorneys have described him as a shy young man, unhappy with the notoriety that saw him garner significant national attention – and legions of fans – before he was arrested in the Bahamas after crashing a stolen plane near the islands.
Harris-Moore’s accommodations appeared to have changed someone; he injured his leg recently during a detention center volleyball game.
Court documents show that federal and state prosecutors and Harris-Moore’s defense team are working toward a global plea agreement that would see Harris-Moore resolve all the allegations against him.
Requesting a minor scheduling change that would still see Harris-Moore face a jury in July, prosecutors and defense attorneys previously told U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones they needed several more weeks to pursue the negotiations.
“The parties are currently involved in settlement negotiations that may potentially resolve this case, the pending cases in Snohomish, Skagit, Island, and San Juan counties, and matters in other jurisdictions,” the attorneys told the court. “The negotiations have been meaningful and productive.”
Such an agreement would likely see Harris-Moore plead guilty to federal charges after receiving assurances from state and local prosecutors that he would either not be charged or that his plea in federal court would resolve those cases.
Check the Seattle 911 crime blog for more Seattle crime news. Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news.
Who will play Colton Harris-Moore in the ‘Barefoot Bandit’ movie?
Let me be clear: I don’t mean Harris-Moore himself. The 20-year-old former fugitive entered a guilty plea at the federal courthouse in Seattle Friday, meaning he could be headed to jail for as many as 6.5 years.
But federal Judge Richard Jones, presiding over the hearing Friday, said the so-called “Barefoot Bandit” is in negotiations for a movie deal. Indeed, Variety reported earlier this year that Fox snapped up the feature rights to Harris-Moore’s man-on-the-run story.
Harris-Moore won’t get rich from Hollywood’s take on his crimes. He’ll likely have to pay $1.5 million in restitution, and a special master has been appointed to ensure proceeds are paid to his victims.
Variety reports the movie will be called “Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw.” Some speculate it will be produced in the fashion of 2002′s “Catch Me If You Can,” another fugitive-on-the-run film staring Leonardo DiCaprio.

I talked with writer Bob Friel last year when Harris-Moore was captured. Friel authored a book the movie will likely be based on, and he said you can’t make this kind of stuff up.
“Story wise, it was amazing,” Friel said, talking on a cell phone from the Bahamas after the arrest. “It was a fitting end to this.”
At that point, he didn’t have any ideas about who might play Harris-Moore in a film version of his book. But after Fox bought the rights in April, the Internet starting buzzing about casting possibilities.
The soft-spoken Michael Cera is often mentioned often. So is Logan Lerman, the star of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
The gallery below contains a few other actors who might be in the running.

Any profits from his crimes will go toward paying off his victims.

Colton Harris-Moore, aka the “Barefoot Bandit,” plead guilty to seven felonies in a Seattle federal court on Friday. The 20-year-old struck a deal with federal prosecutors that includes a recommendation for up to six and a half years in prison and the inability to profit from his crimes, including a proposed movie.
"He has pled guilty to seven felony charges [and] will spend a significant time in prison and will not make one dime from his crimes," U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkin tells ABC News.
According to the agreement, Harris-Moore will be allowed to sell his story through a third party negotiator, but any profits will go towards paying off an estimated $1.4 million in losses claimed by his victims.
Harris-Moore has been charged in the thefts of at least five small aircrafts, two cars, and at least 100 private residences in the Pacific Northwest United States and Canada. He fled authorities on July 4, 2010 by flying an allegedly stolen plane to the Bahamas. He was apprehended in the Bahamas on July 11 and transported back to Seattle for trial. He was 18-years-old when he was apprehended.
He earned the nickname, “Barefoot Bandit,” because he committed some of his crimes in his bare feet. He became quite notorious for the brazen crimes with Facebook pages dedicated to him, as well as the sales of t-shirts and other merchandise about him.
Last April, 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights to a book about the young man’s crimes called Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw.