A Florida jury found six Cuban men guilty today of hijacking an aging DC-3 plane from communist Cuba to the United States after a trial highlighting the deep political gulf between the two countries
The Cubans face 20 years to life in prison for hijacking the 1940s-era Aerotaxi plane from Cuba's Isle of Youth airport in Nueva Gerona, Cuba, to Key West airport on March 19th.
Each defendant was charged with four counts: conspiracy to commit air piracy, air piracy, conspiracy to interfere with the flight crew and interfering with a flight crew.
Three of the men were found guilty of all four counts, while the other three were acquitted on some counts -- although all of those three were convicted of air piracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Cubans' March flight to Key West on the southern tip of Florida dramatized the constant trickle of Cuban migrants who try to cross the 90-mile (140-km) Florida Straits to the United States using smugglers' boats, homemade vessels and sometimes stolen or hijacked aircraft or boats. It took place during a rash of several plane and boat hijackings.