By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — A man who was a fugitive for nearly 41 years was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the 1968 hijacking of an airplane headed to Puerto Rico, the FBI announced Tuesday.
Luis Armando Peña Soltren turned himself in and pleaded guilty on Mar. 18, 2010 to participating in the Nov. 24, 1968 hijacking of Pan American Flight 281, which left John F. Kennedy Airport and was meant to fly to Puerto Rico, but instead was directed to Cuba.
After 40 years living as a fugitive in Cuba, Soltren received his sentence in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday.
"Today's sentence of Luis Armando Peña Soltren for the violent hijacking in which he participated more than four decades ago should send a strong message that we will vindicate the interests of justice no matter how long it takes," Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
"This was a heinous crime and the punishment is appropriate."
Along with co-conspirators Jose Rafael Rios Cruz and Miguel Castro, Soltren took control of the cockpit of the Pan Am flight by wielding pistols and knives to order the crew to land the plane in Havana, Cuba.
Soltren's motivation for joining Puerto Rican nationalists in the hijacking was to visit his sick father in Cuba, according to the New York Times.
Cruz and Castro were apprehended in 1975 and 1976 respectively, and have long since served out their sentences of 15 and 12 years in prison.
