Plea change set for 1984 US-to-Cuba hijacker
MIAMI (AP) — A change of plea hearing has been set for an American who returned from Cuba decades after hijacking a jetliner to the communist island.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenbaum on Tuesday scheduled a May 2 hearing for 57-year-old William Potts. Potts previously pleaded not guilty to air piracy charges but said when he returned last year from Cuba that he wanted to resolve the U.S. case.
The FBI says Potts claimed he had explosives when he hijacked a New York-to-Miami flight to Havana in 1984. He described himself then as a black militant using names such as "Lt. Spartacus."
Potts was arrested in Cuba and served 13 years in prison. He faces between 20 years and life in a U.S. prison and is seeking credit for the Cuban time served.
