Some folks should not be allowed to breed.
The father needs some jail time to contemplate the terrible danger he put his children in for his own selfish reasons.
The lawyer says the only reason the guy is pleading to a felony is because he has to protect his wife. She's a Japanese citizen (here legally) but a conviction on a felony could have sent her back. So, they couldn't take the risk of not winning at trial.
IMHO the attempting to influence a public official charge is bogus. I believe that is intended to cover things like bribery or extortion of a public official, but it's a vaguely worded statue and who knows what a jury would do with it.
The parents are looking forward to jail so they can be interviewed by all the major media outlets upon release.
I don’t know the law here, but I think the fitting punishment would be monetary in nature. These clowns should be made to pay for all of the emergency and other public services their hoax incurred and/or disrupted (goodness knows what local air traffic control had to do to clear space for the balloon).
A stupid a$$hat fine would be nice, too.