Barefoot Bandit Colton Harris-Moore has Island County date

COUPEVILLE -- Colton Harris-Moore, the notorious Barefoot Bandit, is scheduled to return to Island County Superior Court to face state charges on Dec. 16.

The hearing was announced Monday by the Island County Sheriff's Office.

Harris-Moore, 20, faces more than 30 felonies in Island, San Juan and Snohomish counties. He's already pleaded guilty in federal court to charges connected with a multi-state crime spree.

Harris-Moore is expected to enter guilty pleas as part of a plea arrangement with state prosecutors. The hearing likely will include arraignment and sentencing all at once, with separate but consecutive hearings for Island and San Juan counties, officials said.

The most serious charge, a first-degree burglary related to an Oct. 2009 incident near Granite Falls, is expected to be filed in Island County on behalf of Snohomish County prosecutors. That charge could result in a sentence of a dozen years or more.

This isn't the first time that Harris-Moore has appeared in Island County Superior Court. Before he gained an international reputation for running barefoot from crimes and stealing airplanes, he faced dozens of juvenile crimes including burglary and theft.

Harris-Moore in 2007 was sentenced in Island County to serve three years in juvenile rehabilitation. He escaped from a half-way home in April 2008 and evaded arrest for more than two years.

On July 11, 2010, Harris-Moore was caught in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States. He's been in federal detention since.

Harris-Moore was scheduled to be sentenced in federal court Dec. 9. That date likely will rescheduled sometime after the state hearing.



Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.