Man returns to U.S. from Cuba to face charges in 1984 air hijacking

A former black revolutionary who hijacked a U.S. airplane some three decades ago returned to Florida on Wednesday and surrendered to authorities to face charges of air piracy.

William Potts Jr., who has described himself as a former member of the Black Panthers and of the Black Liberation Army, voluntarily returned and will make his initial court appearance on Thursday in front of U.S. Magistrate Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes, the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI announced Wednesday.

Potts faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of air piracy, but he is hoping to negotiate a lesser sentence because he served more than 13 years in a Cuban prison.

In 2009, Potts called himself the “homesick hijacker” in an Associated Press article and spoke of his desire to one day return to the United States. In recent days, he has granted interviews to reporters in Cuba as the details of his travel arrangements were being finalized.

“I’ve got kind of mixed emotions, let me say that at least, about touching American soil for the first time in nearly 30 years,” he told reporters, including those for the wire service. “So much has changed, and I’m just going to have to wait and see what it looks like when I get there.”

He argues that the 13 years he served in the Combinado del Este prison outside Havana should count toward his sentence in the United States.

“I’m ready for whatever,” Potts said, according to the Daily Mail. “My position is, of course, I did the crime and I did the time, and the United States has to recognize that.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office refused to comment on Potts’s argument for less jail time.

Potts bought a one-way ticket on a Piedmont flight on March 27, 1984, heading to Florida, according to an FBI affidavit filed with the indictment, which was emailed to reporters by legal officials.

As the airliner approached Miami, Potts pushed a call button and handed a flight attendant a note claiming he had two “comrades” on the plane and that there were two explosive devices aboard. Potts identified himself as “Lt. Spartacus, a soldier in the Black Liberation Army,” according to the FBI.

Potts also demanded $5 million, threatened to blow up the plane and kill passengers if it landed in Miami, according to the court documents. He discussed freedom for “brothers and sisters” in South Africa and criticized U.S. interference with Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.

The hijacking was one of dozens in 1960s and 1970s involving people who sought asylum in Cuba. The United States and Cuba in 1971 reached an agreement to prosecute the hijackers or return them.

Expecting to be welcomed in Havana, Potts instead was taken into custody, tried and convicted. He was later granted permanent residency in Cuba.

“It’s time it had closure,” Potts said before arriving in Florida. “Why leave it hanging, why leave this gaping uncertainty.”

“So I want to resolve that because … having completed my sentence, I feel like I want to put all that stuff behind me,” he said. “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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