Balloon hoax €27k pay out

THE parents who pleaded guilty in the balloon boy hoax agreed to pay about €27,000 in restitution to authorities who responded to the incident.

Larimer County Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski accepted the agreement that prosecutors reached with Richard and Mayumi Heene, who were not at the hearing.

The Heenes reported their six-year-old son had floated away in a homemade UFO-shaped helium balloon, touching off a scramble of dozens of emergency responders.