Colton Harris Moore
The Camano Island teen convicted in a string of robberies and dubbed the Barefoot Bandit is being held in solitary confinement at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla, and his lawyer is upset with how he is being treated.

Barefoot Bandit's attorney upset with client's treatment in prison

BY Kim Shepard  on April 23, 2012 @ 5:26 am (Updated: 6:36 am - 4/23/12 )

Colton Harris-Moore, the youthful thief known as the "Barefoot Bandit," is being held in solitary confinement at a Washington state prison, and his lawyer is upset with how he is being treated.

John Henry Browne, Colton Harris-Moore's attorney, said Harris-Moore is confined to a small cell with no windows, no TV, no radio, and he's only allowed out once a day.

"There are times when he's locked down 72 hours at a time," said Browne. "It's basically punishment or torture. It's certainly not appropriate for a property crime defendant."

The 21-year-old has been placed in the intensive management unit at Walla Walla State Penitentiary, where convicts facing the death penalty are housed, the Department of Corrections confirmed Friday.

Browne said he's been told the solitary cell is for Colton Harris-Moore's own safety, because he's a high-profile inmate.

"He was much more high profile about three or four months ago when he was in the federal detention center down by the airport, and he was in the general population, and he wasn't segregated at all, except for a few times when he wanted to be by himself, so that explanation doesn't really carry any weight with me at all," said Browne.

Browne said it also costs taxpayers more to keep Harris-Moore in this type of housing.

"The taxpayers should know keeping him in IMU, that's where he is Intensive Management Unit, death row, keeping him in IMU costs taxpayers about three times as much as if he was in a regular, general population," said Browne.

Browne said he's called the governor's office and the Department of Corrections, asking them to intervene on Harris-Moore's behalf.

Harris-Moore was arrested two years ago, after crash-landing a stolen plane in the Bahamas. His crime spree included stealing planes, boats and cars and identity theft.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison. But, his attorney notes, there are no violent crimes on his record that would warrant putting him in what amounts to "death row."

Harris-Moore has been in solitary confinement at Walla Walla since April 11, and he will remain there pending a final decision on his prison placement, expected in about seven weeks, Spokeswoman Selena Davis said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kim Shepard, KIRO Radio Reporter
Kim Shepard is a news anchor and reporter for KIRO Radio and the office optimist. She's energetic, quick to laugh and has a positive outlook on life.
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Comments (8)


  • Add A Comment

  • ron prevost wrote...
    JHB - nothing to be upset about.........
    April 23, 2012 6:03 am
    Trust me, if I were 21 and facing 7 years in state prison, the LAST thing I would want would be a cell mate. .. ........... John Henry Browne is just getting his name back in the press, as Sgt. Bales seems to have slipped out for a while.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Country_Dog wrote...
    Newsflash
    April 23, 2012 6:17 am
    People who got their property stolen are upset with the client too.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Camanoresident wrote...
    To Bad
    April 23, 2012 8:13 am
    BUBA needs a cellmate
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • gb1118 wrote...
    Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
    April 23, 2012 8:50 am
    Too bad J.H.B. isn't in prison too. He's as much of a criminal as the people he "defends"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Oly80 wrote...
    gb1118...
    April 23, 2012 10:13 am
    your subject was excatly what came into my mind first! this kid needs to be OUT of the headlines. this isn't news. i agree that, at 21, this kid should be happy he isn't with all the REAL thugs.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Oly80 wrote...
    whoops...
    April 23, 2012 10:15 am
    exactly*
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    JHB
    April 23, 2012 11:08 am
    Slip and fall specialist who loves himself above all others. Geez, even Anne Bremner couldn't stand him. Do us all a favor, JHB and actually fall on your sword. Your self-righteous attitude and courtroom gesticulations are beyond annoying. Your idea of "justice" is seeing your name in the papers. Just go away, counselor.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • MagneticPatriot wrote...
    Outsourcing Prisons
    April 24, 2012 6:31 am
    I think we should try something new with the whole prison system idea. I think it is about time we outsourced our prisoners and prison system. China, are you listening?

    Or what about putting a giant prison system right in the middle of Afghanistan, trust me they have a lot of cheap unused land. Put every lifer and death row inmate there. No need for to many guards, if they escape, they’ll last less than a day.

    If anything, maybe they should have lifer prisons, meaning if you’re sentenced to life in prison you go to a prison that has just lifers in it; this way there is no mix up with non-lifers or having to worry about being kept safe on death row where it cost more. Maybe have a prison just for people on death row? They should make the 6’ x 8’s a little smaller, like 5’ x 7’ and make them all solitary, put them underground (saves on costs of windows).

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }