Facts: The "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore’s luck finally crapped out on Sunday, 7-11-2010.  The 19-year-old from Washington State had been on a crime spree since escaping from a Renton, Washington group home in April 2008.  After stealing an estimated $3 million dollars in cash, cars, boats and planes, Time Magazine declared Harris-Moore (who received his nickname as a result of being taped committing some of his crimes barefooted), “America’s Most Wanted Teenage Bandit.”

Having gained more than 67,000 Facebook fans following his spree, on July 5, Harris-Moore stole a 2009 Cessna 400 Corvalis airplane, valued over $340,000 from Bloomington, Indiana.
Without any formal flight training, unless you count video flight games he played, Harris-Moore flew, crash landed in three-foot-deep water off the coast of Abaco Island in the Bahamas.  After a week of burglarizing there, he stole a 30 foot boat powerboat from a marina and was finally captured near Harbour Island, after police shot out his engines.

While the Barefoot Bandit is a suspect in over 70 crimes, perhaps his biggest fan -the FBI- already charged Harris-Moore with Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property.

The law: on ‘the books’ 18, U.S.C., 2314, makes it a Federal crime for any person to transport, or to cause to be transported in interstate commerce, stolen property having a value of $5,000 or more. A person can be found guilty of said crime only if all of the following facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

First: That the person transported or caused to be transported, in interstate commerce, items of stolen property; Second: That such items had a value of $5,000 or more; and Third: That the person acted willfully with knowledge that the property had been stolen.
The maximum statutory penalty for the interstate transportation of stolen property charge is 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years’ supervised release.

Analysis: While Harris-Moore was a juvenile while committing some of the crimes, the theft of this latest Cessna, occurred when he was of adult age, above 18 years old.  Since Harris-Moore willfully took the plane, valued far beyond $5000, and transported it from Indiana to the Bahamas, the FBI has determined Harris-Moore met each mark necessary to charge him with the crime.   Having left his image in video surveillance, it’s not too far fetched to assume that the FBI has other evidence linking Harris-Moore to the theft of the Cessna airplane.  Now, Harris-Moore sits in jail, waiting to be judged by a jury, or work out a plea agreement with the Feds.

Thoughts: The Barefoot Bandit may have become a darling to the media, but not to the people who have lost millions in property.    Many teens experience ‘growing pains’ in route to becoming adults, but Harris-Moore took things to the (near) extreme; thank God no one was killed when the stolen airplane crashed.  Harris-Moore will likely spend years in the jack, foregoing the freedom he loves.  His time in prison will likely be less than MANY other members of our society would receive because of the sensation he’s created.  I hope his poor work ethic doesn’t inspire others to follow him beyond Facebook.  Prison is a real crash.