From MSNBC.com:

FORT COLLINS. Colo. – A sheriff said he was pursuing criminal charges in Colorado’s “balloon boy” saga, which he described Sunday as a hoax to generate publicity for a reality TV show.

“It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt and we believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt in hopes to better market themselves for a reality show,” Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters at a press conference.

Deputies searched the home of the boy’s parents Saturday night, carrying away several boxes and a computer.

“Needless to say they put on a very good show for us,” Alderden said during the news conference Sunday. He said the first clues of the hoax came during the family’s interview by Wolf Blitzer on CNN Thursday night. The young boy said “you said we did this for a show” when asked why he didn’t come out of his hiding place.

Falcon got sick during two separate TV interviews Friday when asked again why he hid.

Charges include conspiracy, false reporting
Alderden said the charges that could be filed against the parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, include conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and false reporting to authorities. The parents are not currently under arrest. He said the sheriff’s department planned to meet with federal authorities to consider additional charges.

Some of the most serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The boy’s parents met with Larimer County investigators for much of Saturday afternoon amid lingering questions about the circumstances under which their 6-year-old son Falcon vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a flying saucer-like helium balloon.

His deputies later showed up at the Heene’s Fort Collins home with a search warrant and at least three of them began a search. Sgt. Ian Stewart declined so say what they were after. Alderden said child protective services would be reviewing the case and determining whether the Heene children are in any danger. Alderden says all three children knew of the Thursday hoax, but likely won’t face charges because of their ages. The oldest son is 10.

“This has been a planned event for at least two weeks,” Alderden said. He added that investigators had some serious doubts as to whether Falcon Heene spent the entire time in the garage, or whether he was elsewhere.

“For all we know he may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park,” he said.

For more on this story at MSNBC, click here.

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