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15-Year Sentence for 1968 Plane Hijacking

The crime evoked a touch of nostalgia, tracing back to an era when political activism and crime sometimes went hand in hand. Hijackings, especially to Cuba, seemed commonplace.

Luis Armando Peña Soltren was one of three men accused of hijacking of Pan American Flight 281, bound for Puerto Rico but taken to Cuba on Nov. 24, 1968. The other two men have long since pleaded guilty and served their sentences.

After 40 years living as a fugitive in Cuba, Mr. Soltren, now 67, received his sentence in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.

He walked slowly into the courtroom, with short, silvery hair and bowed shoulders. Then he stood before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein and read for 15 minutes from a piece of paper....
Read entire article at NYT