The Colorado parents of three children could wind up in jail after admitting in court they fabricated a story about their son in a runaway balloon to gain publicity for a possible reality TV show.

Richard Heene appeared before a Larimer County District Court judge first, pleading guilty to a felony count of falsely influencing the sheriff who led the rescue effort during the 50-mile balloon chase that captivated a global television audience Oct. 15.

Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly filing a false report with emergency services. Prosecutors said she had a lower level of culpability and cooperated with authorities, telling investigators the balloon launch was a publicity stunt two weeks in the making.

But even as the Heenes entered their guilty pleas, their attorneys' comments in court set off speculation of talk show appearances or other deals.

Judge Stephen Schapanski agreed to the attorneys' request that the couple be allowed to travel to New York and California to explore "employment opportunities." David Lane, Richard Heene's lawyer, declined to elaborate as he left the courtroom, and Heene waved off questions.

DiMasi and three co-defendants entered the pleas Thursday during their arraignment on an expanded indictment adding extortion to earlier public corruption charges.

The original indictment alleged DiMasi and three associates rigged two lucrative state contracts for the software company Cognos in exchange for payments, with the former speaker pocketing $57,000.

A superseding indictment handed up last month added the extortion charge. It says DiMasi accepted payments from Cognos and a second member of the scheme, Joseph Lally, knowing the money was in exchange for helping the Burlington, Mass.-based firm win the contracts.

A prison inmate has pleaded not guilty to arson and murder charges for a 2003 wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and was linked to five heart attack deaths in Southern California.

San Bernardino County prosecutors say 28-year-old Rickie Lee Fowler entered his plea Thursday in Superior Court.

Fowler is already serving time in state prison for burglary. He faces five counts of murder, one count of aggravated arson and one count of arson of an inhabited structure.

The so-called Old Fire erupted in the San Bernardino Mountains above the city of San Bernardino in October 2003 and eventually swept across 140 square miles.

A pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 30. Fowler's bail has been set at $1 million.

Simple.net Inc. of Mesa, Ariz., has tried to block investigations by North Dakota and other states. It contends the investigations are barred because of a settlement between the company and the Federal Trade Commission.

In a unanimous ruling, the North Dakota Supreme Court says the FTC agreement does not prevent the North Dakota attorney general from looking into Simple.net's business practices.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem got complaints about Simple.net because the company was sending out incentive checks.

When customers cashed the checks, they started getting billed almost $20 a month for Internet services. Stenehjem says the sales pitch was misleading.