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10/12/09 - Department of Justice - Press Release on Luis Armando Peña
Soltren

For Immediate Release
October 12, 2009
United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of New York
Contact: (212) 637-2600

Fugitive Hijacker of Pan American Flight 281 Arrives in Southern District of
New York to Face Charges

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New
York, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge on the
New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced
that LUIS ARMANDO PEÑA SOLTREN arrived in the Southern District of New York
from Havana, Cuba, to face charges of allegedly hijacking Pan American
flight 281 on November 24, 1968, and diverting the Puerto Rico-bound plane
to Havana, Cuba. After 41 years of living as a fugitive in Cuba, PEÑA
SOLTREN, a U.S. citizen, voluntarily returned to the United States and
surrendered to federal authorities yesterday at John F. Kennedy
International Airport. It was made clear to PEÑA SOLTREN by U.S. officials
that he would be arrested and prosecuted upon his return to the United
States. The Cuban government was aware of PEÑA SOLTREN's desire to return
voluntarily to the United States and authorized his departure.

According to the Complaint and Indictment previously filed in Manhattan
federal court:
On November 24, 1968, PEÑA SOLTREN, along with coconspirators JOSE RAFAEL
RIOS CRUZ and MIGUEL CASTRO, boarded Pan American flight 281 bound for San
Juan, Puerto Rico. After the airplane took flight, the defendants, wielding
pistols and large knives, forced their way into the cabin of the airplane
and ordered the crew to land in Havana, Cuba. CRUZ, 68, was apprehended in
1975 and CASTRO, 78, was apprehended in 1976. Both ultimately pleaded guilty
to threatening the lives of flight crew members. CRUZ and CASTRO were
sentenced to 15 years in prison and 12 years in prison, respectively, for
their roles in the Pan American flight 281 hijacking.

ALEJANDRO FIGUEROA was acquitted in 1969 after a benchtrial before United
States District Judge EDWARD WEINFELD.

PEÑA SOLTREN is charged in a four-count Indictment with one count of
conspiracy to commit air piracy and kidnapping, one count of interference
with flight crew members, one count of aircraft piracy, and one count of
kidnapping. If convicted, SOLTREN faces a maximum sentence of life in
prison. The case is assigned to United States District Judge ALVIN K.
HELLERSTEIN.
PEÑA SOLTREN, 66, is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on
October 13, 2009.

PEÑA SOLTREN's arrest was the result of the coordinated efforts of the
United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, FBI,
U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Department of Justice's Office of
International Affairs. Mr. BHARARA thanked them for their outstanding work.

"Luis Armando Peña Soltren will finally face the American justice system
that he has been evading for more than four decades. As the 1968 charges
allege, he terrorized dozens of passengers when he and his cohorts wielded
pistols and knives to hijack Pan American flight 281. The passage of time
does not dull our resolve to bring fugitives like Peña Soltren to justice,"
said PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of
New York.

"This is yet another example of how justice delayed is not justice denied.
It is an example of the principle that, for the FBI, fugitive cases don't
become closed cases until the fugitive is brought to justice," said JOSEPH
M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field
Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney RYAN P. POSCABLO of the Office's General
Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the
defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in the court
of law.