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Colton Harris-Moore is escorted by police last July. AP Photo/Felipe Major
Barefoot Bandit

Barefoot Bandit facing jail time after agreeing deal with US prosecutors

Teenager Colton Harris-Moore allegedly stole at least five small planes, a boat and two cars before fleeing to the Bahamas.

THE TEENAGER from Washington who is accused of stealing at least five small planes, a boat and two cars before fleeing to the Bahamas in an attempt to escape US authorities has agreed a deal with prosecutors and pleading guilty to several federal charges.

Colton Harris-Moore, now 20, will be sentenced to six and a half years in prison under the deal, but still faces state charges which could see him receive a 12-year term, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

He earned the nickname the Barefoot Bandit after carrying out a number of his crimes barefoot. He has been accused of robberies in several states and was on the run for almost two years when he was arrested in the Bahamas and sent back to the US.

After he was arrested last summer, his mother Pam Kohler told the AP that she was looking forward to seeing him. When asked what she intended to say to him when she saw him next, Kohler replied, “What kind of question is that?” and hung up on reporters.

If sentenced to 12 years under a deal struck for the state charges facing him, Harris-Moore will serve the longer term. Although not allowed to profit through book or movie deals he authorises about his crimes, he can use the proceeds to pay any restitution costs likely to be brought against him.