FORT COLLINS, Colo. (November 13, 2009)—The former Waco man who reported that his son had floated away in a helium balloon in Colorado and his wife pleaded guilty Friday to charges in the case.

The pleas could mean jail time and probation.

Richard Heene pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant.

His wife, Mayumi Heene, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting.

Richard Heene's attorney, David Lane, says the pleas are part of an agreement intended to avoid possible deportation of Mayumi Heene to her native Japan should she have been convicted in court of greater charges.

The two will be formally sentenced later.

The Heenes initially insisted that they believed their son Falcon, was in the balloon whose flight across the Colorado plains captured the nation’s attention.

But investigators later said the claims were bogus and that the stunt was intended to try to win some sort of reality TV deal.

The family had twice appeared on ABC’s “Wife Swap.”

All three children were aware of the hoax, Alderden said.

Richard Heene is a self-described amateur scientist and storm chase whose interest in weather stemmed from a tornado that struck in 1979 outside of McGregor when he lived in Waco and worked as a carpenter, according to a 2007 Denver Post profile.

The report that Falcon Heene had taken off in a basket suspended from the 20-foot homemade Mylar balloon led to a frantic midair rescue effort as TV news and military helicopters trailed the balloon as it traveled at about 25 miles per hour at altitudes of as high as 5,500 feet.

When the balloon gently touched down in a dusty field, the boy was not aboard.

He was later found in the attic over the garage of his family’s home in Fort Collins, Colo.