other country . Potts , who married after being released from prison , is now divorced and lives on the outskirts of Havana with his two daughters , ages 4 and 7 . He makes some money letting his neighbors use his prized Internet connection . But the New Yorker is homesick and says his elderly parents need help . `` I committed a crime and paid for it , '' he says . `` Now what I want is to return home because I have to attend to my family . '' Watch Potts explain why he thinks he deserves a pardon '' He says the time is right . Potts wrote a letter to President Obama asking for a pardon that would let him return to the United States without fear of being jailed . There are thought to be 700 American fugitives hiding in Cuba . Members of the Black Panthers , Puerto Rican independence movement members and common criminals have sought sanctuary on the island . For the most part , they try to go unnoticed . Perhaps the most famous is black activist Assata Shakur , who was convicted for killing a police officer in
HAVANA , Cuba -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- William Potts picks up his daughters from school every day . People consider him a generous neighbor and a good father . William Potts smuggled a firearm aboard a flight , hijacked the plane and forced the crew to fly to Cuba . But few know how this eccentric American ended up in Cuba . `` I came to Cuba 25 years ago . I hijacked an airplane , '' said Potts , who was convicted of air piracy . Potts says he was enthused by Fidel Castro and his revolution . He imagined a racial and social utopia that could be replicated in his own country . In 1984 , he smuggled a firearm aboard a commercial flight and forced the crew to fly to Havana , Cuba . No one was injured . `` In my revolutionary naivete , I came looking for military training , '' he says . Instead , he ended up in jail . He spent 13 years behind bars in Cuba . In 1971 , the United States and Cuba signed an agreement in which each government agreed to prosecute hijackers or return them to the