It's been One Year Since Plane-Stealing Jerk/Felon Finally Got Caught

Today is the one-year anniversary of the arrest of Colton Harris Moore, who became known as "The Barefoot Bandit" for his alleged theft of planes, boats and cars, and at least 100 suspected burglaries over two years. The troubled teen from Camano Island, Washington reportedly endured an abusive father who deserted the family after attempting to choke the boy, the death of a stepfather, and repeated incarcerations for minor offenses.

Moore was said to have developed the survival skills to live in the woods for days at a time to escape his difficult family life, breaking into cabins for blankets and other needs. Finally, in April of 2008, facing his first serious jail time for the theft of a neighbor's camcorder, he escaped from a group home in Renton, Washington, and the string of crime reports began.

Moore mocked his pursuers with a signed note at one of his stops. A chalk outline of bare feet was left on the floor of a store during a robbery. A growing legend included folksongs, 20-thousand friends on a Facebook page and sales of T-shirts and other souvenirs.

Moore's arrest, in Harbour Island, the Bahamas, followed discovery of a crashed Cessna Corvalis on the shore of Great Abaco Island, a plane which had been reported stolen earlier in Bloomington, Indiana. Moore is not a pilot, but is thought to have learned how to steal planes by reading online manuals and playing with a flight simulator game. Unfortunately, he never learned to land one, and the stolen planes were all recovered after being crash-landed.

It's hard to know how much fun it was being an infamous anti-hero, but Moore is definitely not having fun in the legal system. After his offenses in the Bahamas were covered by paying a $300 fine, he was returned to the US by the FBI, where multiple jurisdictions wanted a piece of him.

Represented by an attorney hired by his mother, Moore took a plea deal last month on seven federal charges in a Seattle courtroom. He'll be sentenced in October, and could get six-and-a-half years in federal prison. Part of the deal involves turning over any profits from exploitation of his story to compensate his known victims for $1.4 million in losses. Some of the state and local charges still pending could carry enhanced penalties for use of firearms.

While he awaits sentencing, Moore is confined to the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, Washington. Given his 6'5" frame, it's not surprising he plays basketball with other detainees to pass the time. But KIRO-TV quotes his attorney, John Henry Browne, in reporting that Moore, who is now 20, broke his leg during one of the games. Browne was asked for more details by the station, but would add only that his client did make the shot.

FMI: www.justice.gov