By Gene Johnson of the Associated Press
The attorney for the teenager accused of being the “Barefoot Bandit” is working with prosecutors to negotiate a plea deal the lawyer says could involve using movie- or book-deal profits to compensate the victims of an alleged two-year, cross-country crime spree.
Defendant Colton Harris-Moore, 19, pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges that include interstate transportation of stolen aircraft and being a fugitive in possession of a firearm.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle declined to comment on whether it is negotiating a possible plea deal with Harris-Moore, [who] is accused of leading authorities on a cat-and-mouse game in pilfered cars, boats and small planes after allegedly escaping a halfway house south of Seattle in 2008. This year he made a daring cross-country dash that ended four months ago after he allegedly stole a plane in Indiana, crash-landed it in the Bahamas and was captured by Bahamian police at gunpoint in a stolen boat.
Not guilty pleas are typical at this stage, even if defendants later intend to change their pleas. For the full article, go to bellinghamherald.com/2010/11/18/1727907/
