An American man who hijacked an airliner to Cuba nearly 30 years ago, flew back home Wednesday to face U.S. justice.
FBI agents took William Potts, 56, into custody shortly after his charter flight from Havana landed at Miami International Airport, said FBI spokesman Mike Leverock.
Potts faces a 1985 federal indictment charging him with air piracy for hijacking a Piedmont Airlines flight in 1984, according to an Associated Press report.
Uncertain future
Before he left Havana, Potts said he was seeking “closure” by facing the U.S. justice system, which he hopes will be lenient.
“I’m ready for whatever. My position is, of course, I did the crime and I did the time, and the United States has to recognize that,” he told the AP.
Potts had been in contact with American diplomats in Havana, who, he said, had told him that he could leave on a charter flight to Miami on Wednesday.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, dozens of U.S. planes were hijacked to Cuba as the Cold War with then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro intensified. But by the 1980s, such incidents had become less frequent and Cuba swiftly convicted Potts.
After his release Potts remained in Havana, where he married and had two daughters. His daughters now live in the United States and Potts has sought to return to his homeland for a number of years.
“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,” he said last month.
But Potts says he does not intend to settle in America: “Just as soon as I finish taking care of this business in the United States, I certainly have every intention of returning to Cuba to live.”
