'Barefoot Bandit' Colton Harris-Moore movie

[Godot]

"'Barefoot Bandit' Colton Harris-Moore robbed houses and stole planes, boats, and cars before being caught in the Bahamas last summer. Now, Fox is making a movie about him. Colton-Harris has said all the money from the deal will go to his victims."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0811/Barefoot-Bandit-inks-1.3-million-movie-deal-Worthy-cause-or-bad-precedent

[rbcp]

"I am humbled to know I can now help the people I hurt, at least for the financial damage I caused them," Harris-Moore said in a statement. "I have absolutely zero interest in profiting from any of this and I won't make a dime off it. It all goes to restitution. That's what I insisted on from the beginning, and the contract I signed guarantees it."

Colton makes it sound like he's just being a nice guy, when this is what the court ordered and he agreed to so that he could get a lighter sentence.  I'm looking forward to the movie, though!

[nyphonejacks]

i was under the assumption that you could not profit off of book or movie rights for crimes that you were convicted of.. isn't the proceeds for all types of stuff like this always given to the victims of the crimes?

[rbcp]

i was under the assumption that you could not profit off of book or movie rights for crimes that you were convicted of.. isn't the proceeds for all types of stuff like this always given to the victims of the crimes?

I think that's always up to the judge.  It sure seemed to be an issue in this case, so it seems possible that you could profit if the judge didn't care.

I just read that Colton's sentence is 10 years.  Before they were saying that his maximum sentence would be 14 years.  So does that mean he gave himself an extra 4 years of freedom by agreeing not to profit?  It almost seems like it would have been better to take that extra 4 years in prison and have a bunch of money when he gets out.  He's already going to spend his entire 20's in prison, so what's an extra 4 years matter?

I bet his mom is going to profit a lot from his story.  If she were a nice mom, she could set aside money for him for when he gets out of prison, but I'm thinking she's more likely to blow every cent she has on bingo and cigarettes.

[Nod]

i was under the assumption that you could not profit off of book or movie rights for crimes that you were convicted of.. isn't the proceeds for all types of stuff like this always given to the victims of the crimes?

I think that's always up to the judge.  It sure seemed to be an issue in this case, so it seems possible that you could profit if the judge didn't care.

I just read that Colton's sentence is 10 years.  Before they were saying that his maximum sentence would be 14 years.  So does that mean he gave himself an extra 4 years of freedom by agreeing not to profit?  It almost seems like it would have been better to take that extra 4 years in prison and have a bunch of money when he gets out.  He's already going to spend his entire 20's in prison, so what's an extra 4 years matter?

I bet his mom is going to profit a lot from his story.  If she were a nice mom, she could set aside money for him for when he gets out of prison, but I'm thinking she's more likely to blow every cent she has on bingo and cigarettes.

Don't forget shotgun shells!