NEW YORK — A judge sentenced a man who hijacked a plane from New York to Cuba four decades ago to 15 years in prison yesterday, citing the fear that must have spread among passengers and the flight crew when he put a knife to the throat of a flight attendant and a gun to her back and then entered the cockpit.
United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein announced the sentence for 67-year-old Luis Armando Pena Soltren, who returned to the United States from Cuba in October 2009 to face charges of conspiracy to commit air piracy, interfering with a flight crew and kidnapping. He pleaded guilty in March.
“This is a very serious offense. Sometimes it’s important to have a strict sentence,” Hellerstein said as he rejected pleas for leniency from a defense lawyer who insisted Pena Soltren only joined the hijacking to get to visit his father in a Cuban hospital and then lived an honourable life afterwards.
“Hijacking is a frightening crime,” the judge said. “I tried to imagine how I would feel if someone put a knife to my throat and a gun to my back and I wonder how many nightmares would follow.”
Hellerstein said Pena Soltren will not be entitled to parole, although his crime occurred before parole was abolished. Instead, he will be entitled to be released on good behavior after 85 percent of his term is served.
Pan American Flight 281, which had 103 passengers and crew, was traveling from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Puerto Rico on November 24, 1968 when Pena Soltren rose from his seat and attacked the flight attendant before entering the cockpit. No one was hurt.
The hijacking was carried out when Pena Soltren, a U.S. citizen, and at least two co-defendants brought pistols and large knives aboard in a baby’s diaper bag. The pilots were forced to divert Puerto-Rico bound Pan American Flight 281 from Kennedy Airport to Havana. (AP)
