‘Barefoot Bandit’ on work release in Seattle

Colton Harris-Moore, the one-time teen fugitive who gained international fame as the “Barefoot Bandit,” has been transferred to a work-release facility in Seattle.

Harris-Moore, now 25, checked into Reynolds Work Release, a minimum-security facility operated by the state Department of Corrections.

The facility is just a few blocks from the Pioneer Square offices of his former defense attorney, John Henry Browne, who said last month that Harris-Moore will do clerical work and answer phones at his law firm during the day.

Department of Corrections (DOC) spokesman Jeremy Barclay said Harris-Moore was transferred to Reynolds from the Stafford Creek Correctional Center in Aberdeen. While in the work-release program, Harris-Moore is still considered to be in custody and will have limited freedom to be allowed to go to work, he said.

Browne negotiated a plea agreement that sent Harris-Moore to prison for 6½ years, but resolved dozens of federal and state charges pending against him since his escape from a juvenile halfway house in 2008.

Harris-Moore was 17 but managed to evade capture, committing a string of break-ins and thefts — including several aircraft — often taunting law enforcement and leaving a telltale sketched bare footprint at the scene as a signature.

By the time he was arrested in 2010 after a boat chase in the Bahamas, Harris-Moore was something of a folk hero, with a huge following on social media and articles of his exploits in major national publications.

Browne also helped Harris-Moore work out a movie deal that resulted in a Hollywood studio coming up with more than $1 million to pay restitution that Harris-Moore owed for wrecking cars, crash-landing three stolen airplanes and committing dozens of thefts and burglaries. Harris-Moore has received no money from the deal, Browne has said,

Harris-Moore’s formal DOC release date from custody is in January and Barclay said the hope is the former fugitive will gain the work experience and stability to succeed. He acknowledged Harris-Moore’s notoriety could make that more difficult.

“However, we believed he has a great amount of success before him as long as he continues down this path,” Barclay said.