The American teenager who police call the "Barefoot Bandit" pleaded guilty Tuesday to a minor offense in the Bahamas and has already landed in Miami to face prosecution for a string of break-ins and plane thefts across the United States.
Colton Harris-Moore pleaded guilty to illegally entering the country at his first court appearance in the Bahamas, where police ended the 19-year-old convict's alleged two-year crime spree by capturing him following a high-speed boat chase.
The charge stemming from his alleged crash of a stolen plane on Great Abaco Island carries a $300 fine or three months in jail,
followed by deportation. His lawyer, Monique Gomez, said the U.S. Embassy would pay the fine.
"Colton wants to go home," Gomez said.
Harris-Moore will likely face a judge Wednesday morning, after he was flown into Miami Tuesday accompanied by FBI agents. As with most international fugitives with cute nicknames, the Barefoot bandit has garnered a pretty large Internet following. A Facebook page dedicated to his exploits has nearly 80,000 friends.
The shackled teen smiled after the Bahamian judge read the sentence. Bahamian police had earlier said that he would face other charges
including illegal weapons possession related to a string of break-ins and thefts during his week-long hideout in the country.
Harris-Moore wore white high-top sneakers without laces and kept his head down as armed officers escorted him to the courthouse. A police SWAT team stood by as authorities put up street barricades ahead of the hearing for the celebrity suspect.
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Authorities say he earned the "Barefoot Bandit" nickname by committing some crimes while shoeless, and in February he allegedly
drew chalk-outline feet all over the floor of a grocery store during a burglary in Washington's San Juan Islands.
Harris-Moore is suspected in about 70 property crimes across eight states and British Columbia, many of them in the bucolic islands of Washington state. He is accused of stealing a plane from an Indiana airport to fly to the Bahamas.
His mother, Pam Kohler, seemed relieved. "I'm really tired," Kohler said from her home on Camano Island, Washington. "Yes, I look forward to seeing him."
His arrest came as a relief to people across rural Camano Island, where authorities say he learned to dodge police.
"There's a lot of relief throughout the community," said real estate agent Mark Williams. "I think the man's luck just wore out. You run through the woods long enough, you're going to trip over a log."
The teenager claimed that he told islanders he was trying to get to Cuba so he could throw police off his trail, but he intended to make his way to the Turks and Caicos Islands southeast of the Bahamas, the officer said.
The suspect learned from the Internet that the British territory has a small police force and no marine defense force, according to the officer.
Harris-Moore spent Monday being questioned by investigators. Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade described him as eloquent, calm, cooperative and "obviously a very intelligent young man," but declined to say whether he made any confession.
