Richard and Mayumi Heene, the couple accused of creating a hoax that their 6-year-old son Falcon had flown away in a foil weather balloon, will plead guilty to a felony offense of attempting to influence a public servant, according to their lawyer. CNN reports that the Heenes will enter the plea on Friday morning. The two could face jail time, though their lawyer says the prosecutor has recommended probation.

News teams spent the better part of the afternoon of Oct. 15 following the balloon thought to be carrying Falcon as it sailed over the Colorado landscape. It was later discovered that the boy was hiding in the family’s attic all along, and the parents are accused of staging the event to help attract interest for a new reality show.

EW confirmed that the Heenes were developing a reality show about their family with RDF Media USA, the same company that produces Wife Swap (on which they appeared). The project is no longer active. A rep for TLC confirms that RDF pitched the show to the network months ago and they passed.

CNN announced today that John King, anchor of its Sunday news program State of the Union, will anchor a new political news show starting next year in the 7 p.m. hour left vacated by Lou Dobbs. Dobbs announced yesterday that he is leaving CNN. Until King’s show launches, the network will fill the hour with a rotating cast of anchors on a program called CNN Tonight. King is perhaps best known for his role in CNN’s election coverage last year as the guy who analyzed results on a “Magic Wall” touch screen.

A 33-year-old California man who briefly participated in a taping of ABC’s Wipeout in late October died on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles from an apparent stroke. The death of  Tom Sparks, which was first reported by an online publication, may have been triggered by a pre-existing blood condition; his father, Bill, released a statement to the Idaho Mountain Express saying that his son had a rare disease that causes clotting.

A spokeswoman for Endemol, which produces Wipeout for ABC, confirmed that Sparks was running the first segment of  the obstacle course on Oct. 19 when he began complaining of knee pain. The man remained in good spirits, even stopping to do an interview with the show’s host, but the producers pulled him from the course, the spokeswoman said. Medics then discovered Sparks was experiencing shortness of breath, so he was taken to the hospital. Endemol learned of his death via a statement posted by the man’s father on a social networking site. The spokeswoman said the production company has not heard from the family.

Endemol requires all show participants to undergo full medical examinations before they are allowed to participate in the game show, though the tests would not necessarily reveal pre-existing conditions. Sparks, a former disc jockey in Idaho, had reportedly completed a marathon before applying to appear on Wipeout.

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family,” a joint ABC/Endemol statement read. “This is a tragic loss and our thoughts are with them at this time.”