U.S. Citizen in Cuba Returns to the United States and is Arrested on 1984 Air Piracy Charge

William Potts, Jr., a/k/a William Freeman, a/k/a Lieutenant Spartacus, was arrested by the FBI today at Miami International Airport on charges of air piracy. Potts was indicted in the Southern District of Florida in 1985 after diverting a Piedmont Airlines passenger aircraft to Havana, Cuba, as the aircraft was approaching Miami International Airport. According to court documents, Potts threatened to blow up the airplane and shoot passengers if the plane landed in Miami. The pilot diverted the aircraft and landed in Havana, Cuba. After the plane landed in Havana, Cuban authorities boarded and escorted Potts off the plane. Potts remained in Cuba until his return to Miami on November 6, 2013. Potts is scheduled to make his initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes on Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. If convicted, Potts faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum term of life in prison.