Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence

Posted on Thursday, 07.24.14

Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI -- An American who hijacked a jetliner to Cuba decades ago is
appealing the 20-year prison sentence he received after pleading guilty
to U.S. kidnapping charges.

The attorney for William Potts Jr. filed a notice of appeal Thursday.
Potts has been seeking credit for the 13 years he spent in Cuba after
hijacking the jet in 1984 on its way from New York to Miami.

Potts returned voluntarily from Cuba last year to resolve the U.S. case.
Under his current sentence, the 57-year-old Potts would be eligible for
parole after nearly seven years.

The FBI says the New Jersey native identified himself during the
hijacking as a black militant and claimed in a note to a flight
attendant that he planned to blow up the flight unless it was diverted
to Havana.

Source: MIAMI: Cuban hijacker appeals 20-year US prison sentence -
Nation Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/24/4253858/cuban-hijacker-appeals-20-year.html