Homesick Hijacker Arrives In South Florida After 30 Years In Cuba
HAVANA (CBSMiami/AP) — The man who hijacked a Florida bound plane to Cuba almost 30 years ago has returned to U.S. soil.
William Potts, 56, voluntarily returned to the U.S. Wednesday when a chartered plane he was on landed at Miami International Airport around 11:30 a.m.
Upon landing, Potts, handcuffed and shackled, was taken to FBI Headquarters in North Miami Beach.
Griselda Gaush was on the plane Wednesday, sitting two rows behind Potts. She said that when the plane landed he stood up and grabbed his luggage from the overhead bin, said thank you, and was the first one to exit the plane.
Before boarding the plane at Jose Marti International Airport, Potts told a CBS News crew he was very anxious.
"I'm very anxious to return and with all of the conflict that's been going on for too long. We're hoping for a just solution to this problem," said Potts. "I want to go home to my family, to my daughter, that's what I'm hoping, that's what I'm expecting."
When Potts chartered plane landed at MIA, he was turned over to U.S. Marshals.
Potts was indicted on air piracy charges for diverting a Miami-bound Piedmont Airlines passenger plane to Havana, Cuba in 1985. According to court documents, Potts threatened to blow up the airplane and shoot passengers if the plane landed in Miami. The pilot diverted the aircraft and landed in Havana where Cuban authorities escorted Potts off the plane.
Potts has long been beyond the reach of U.S. justice in Havana, where he served time for a hijacking, then settled down with a Cuban woman, started a family and made his livelihood as a farmer.
He is now divorced but still close with his ex-wife.
Potts is scheduled to make his initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
If convicted, Potts faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison.
Potts was a young Black Panthers militant in 1984 when he pulled a gun hidden in a plaster cast and commandeered a commercial flight headed from New Jersey to Florida. He ordered it to Cuba, where he expected authorities to offer him guerrilla training.
Instead, he was convicted of air piracy and jailed for more than 13 years.
Potts said he seeks "closure" by facing the U.S. justice system. He argues that the time he served in Cuba should mitigate further punishment back home, but admitted there's no guarantee.
"My position is I am a free man. I have served my time," Potts said. "But they seem to have another concept. They are going to take control of me. I will be under their authority."
"I hope the American authorities consider that he already served 15 years in prison in Cuba," said Aimee Quesada, his ex-wife. "It was a moment in his youth and he hurt no one. For the welfare of his daughters and his family, I hope he can resolve this problem soon."
U.S. authorities have aggressively prosecuted some returning fugitives, while others saw their sentences reduced significantly for time served elsewhere. U.S. Interests Section, FBI and Cuban officials so far have declined to comment on Potts' case.
After getting out of jail in Cuba, Potts set about making a new life in Cuba, where he has been granted permanent residency. He and Quesada live in a modest Soviet-style apartment block east of Havana.
Even though Potts intends to continue to call Cuba home for the foreseeable future, he decided to return home and take his chances with the legal system. The pending U.S. case against him keeps him from living his life fully, he said.
"It's time it had closure. Why leave it hanging, why leave this gaping uncertainty?" he said. "So I want to resolve that because ... having completed my sentence, I feel like I want to put all that stuff behind me. I don't want that lingering over or impeding anything I might want to do. Once you've paid your debt to society you're entitled to a fresh start."
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