By . Becky Evans and Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:32 EST, 6 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:04 EST, 6 November 2013 . A former Black Panther, who hijacked a plane and forced it to fly to Cuba, is set to return to the U.S. to face justice today. William Potts said he is homesick and wants to return to America for the first time in almost three decades. Mr Potts, 56, who has been working with U.S. diplomats in Havana in recent weeks to get a passport, said they told him yesterday that his travel arrangements were made . and he could leave on a charter flight to Miami today. Scroll down for video . William Potts is due to return to the U.S. today for the first time since he hijacked a plane in 1984 and forced it to take him to Cuba where he has lived since . Mr Potts has worked with U.S. diplomats in Havana to secure a passport and return to Miami . Because the two countries have no extradition treaty, Mr Potts was beyond the reach of U.S. justice but he still faces an indictment for air piracy that could carry a 20-year prison sentence. He hopes the 13 years he served in Cuba for the hijacking will be taken into consideration by U.S. authorities but admits he may be sent to prison. Mr Potts said he seeks 'closure' by . facing the U.S. justice system. He argues that the time he served in the . Combinado del Este prison outside Havana should mitigate further . punishment back home. 'I'm . ready for whatever,' Potts said. 'My position is, of course, I did the . crime and I did the time, and the United States has to recognize that.' Mr Potts was jailed after hijacking a commercial plane in 1984 when he pulled a gun hidden in a plaster cast and forced it to land in Cuba, where he expected authorities to offer him guerrilla training. Instead he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Since his release, he settled down became a farmer and had two daughters with his second wife. Revolutionary Times: Armed members of the Black Panther Party leave the Capitol in Sacramento May 2nd, 1967 . He was granted permanent . residency in Cuba and he and his now ex-wife live in a modest Soviet-style . apartment block east of Havana. Mr Potts said: 'I've got kind of mixed emotions, let me say that at least, about touching American soil for the first time in nearly 30 years. 'So much has changed, and I'm just going to have to wait and see what it looks like when I get there.' The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary organization in the U.S. calling for empowerment of African Americans and protection from police brutality. Set up in 1966, the leaders of the group backed socialist and Marxist doctrines and eventually had affiliations with Communist Cuba. The organization created a Ten-Point Program that cemented its economic and political grievances and the party gained national prominence during the rest of the 1960s and 1970s. The party was officially disbanded in the early 1980s. Notable Black Panther members fled to Cuba, including Assata Shakur - the aunt of murdered rapper Tupac Shakur. She was accused of murdering two New Jersey State Troopers in 1973 and indited in relation to other crimes including attempted murder and armed robbery. She escaped from prison in 1979 and has been living in Cuba in political asylum since 1984. He said his understanding was that he would be escorted by U.S. officials and delivered into the custody of U.S. marshals on arrival in Florida. 'What happens after that I couldn't tell you,' he said. 'I hope to be arraigned soon.' In the 1960s and early '70s, there were dozens of American hijackings to Cuba. As a way of discouraging them, both sides signed a 1971 agreement under which each government agreed to prosecute hijackers or return them to the other country. The U.S. has limited travel to Cuba since 1960 when Fidel Castro came to power. The rules were amended in 2011 to allow all Americans to visit Cuba but direct flights by U.S. airlines are still illegal. It is unclear what stance U.S. authorities will take against Mr Potts as the U.S. Interests Section, FBI and Cuban officials did not have any comment on his case. U.S. authorities have aggressively prosecuted some returning fugitives, while others saw their sentences reduced significantly for time served elsewhere. Even though Potts intends to continue to call Cuba home for the foreseeable future, he decided to return to the U.S. and take his chances with the legal system. The pending case against him keeps him from living his life fully, he said. He said: 'It's time it had closure. Why leave it hanging, why leave this gaping uncertainty? 'So I want to resolve that because... having completed my sentence, I feel like I want to put all that stuff behind me. 'I don't want that lingering over or impeding anything I might want to do. Once you've paid your debt to society you're entitled to a fresh start.'
William Potts, 56, is due to land in Florida today for the first time in 30 years .
Hijacked plane at gunpoint in 1984 and forced it to fly to Communist state .
Jailed in Cuba for 13 years and then started family but wants to return home .
By . Becky Evans and Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:32 EST, 6 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:04 EST, 6 November 2013 . A former Black Panther, who hijacked a plane and forced it to fly to Cuba, is set to return to the U.S. to face justice today. William Potts said he is homesick and wants to return to America for the first time in almost three decades. Mr Potts, 56, who has been working with U.S. diplomats in Havana in recent weeks to get a passport, said they told him yesterday that his travel arrangements were made . and he could leave on a charter flight to Miami today. Scroll down for video . William Potts is due to return to the U.S. today for the first time since he hijacked a plane in 1984 and forced it to take him to Cuba where he has lived since . Mr Potts has worked with U.S. diplomats in Havana to secure a passport and return to Miami . Because the two countries have no extradition treaty, Mr Potts was beyond the reach of U.S. justice but he still faces an indictment for air piracy that could carry a 20-year prison sentence. He hopes the 13 years he served in Cuba for the hijacking will be taken into consideration by U.S. authorities but admits he may be sent to prison. Mr Potts said he seeks 'closure' by . facing the U.S. justice system. He argues that the time he served in the . Combinado del Este prison outside Havana should mitigate further . punishment back home. 'I'm . ready for whatever,' Potts said. 'My position is, of course, I did the . crime and I did the time, and the United States has to recognize that.' Mr Potts was jailed after hijacking a commercial plane in 1984 when he pulled a gun hidden in a plaster cast and forced it to land in Cuba, where he expected authorities to offer him guerrilla training. Instead he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Since his release, he settled down became a farmer and had two daughters with his second wife. Revolutionary Times: Armed members of the Black Panther Party leave the Capitol in Sacramento May 2nd, 1967 . He was granted permanent . residency in Cuba and he and his now ex-wife live in a modest Soviet-style . apartment block east of Havana. Mr Potts said: 'I've got kind of mixed emotions, let me say that at least, about touching American soil for the first time in nearly 30 years. 'So much has changed, and I'm just going to have to wait and see what it looks like when I get there.' The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary organization in the U.S. calling for empowerment of African Americans and protection from police brutality. Set up in 1966, the leaders of the group backed socialist and Marxist doctrines and eventually had affiliations with Communist Cuba. The organization created a Ten-Point Program that cemented its economic and political grievances and the party gained national prominence during the rest of the 1960s and 1970s. The party was officially disbanded in the early 1980s. Notable Black Panther members fled to Cuba, including Assata Shakur - the aunt of murdered rapper Tupac Shakur. She was accused of murdering two New Jersey State Troopers in 1973 and indited in relation to other crimes including attempted murder and armed robbery. She escaped from prison in 1979 and has been living in Cuba in political asylum since 1984. He said his understanding was that he would be escorted by U.S. officials and delivered into the custody of U.S. marshals on arrival in Florida. 'What happens after that I couldn't tell you,' he said. 'I hope to be arraigned soon.' In the 1960s and early '70s, there were dozens of American hijackings to Cuba. As a way of discouraging them, both sides signed a 1971 agreement under which each government agreed to prosecute hijackers or return them to the other country. The U.S. has limited travel to Cuba since 1960 when Fidel Castro came to power. The rules were amended in 2011 to allow all Americans to visit Cuba but direct flights by U.S. airlines are still illegal. It is unclear what stance U.S. authorities will take against Mr Potts as the U.S. Interests Section, FBI and Cuban officials did not have any comment on his case. U.S. authorities have aggressively prosecuted some returning fugitives, while others saw their sentences reduced significantly for time served elsewhere. Even though Potts intends to continue to call Cuba home for the foreseeable future, he decided to return to the U.S. and take his chances with the legal system. The pending case against him keeps him from living his life fully, he said. He said: 'It's time it had closure. Why leave it hanging, why leave this gaping uncertainty? 'So I want to resolve that because... having completed my sentence, I feel like I want to put all that stuff behind me. 'I don't want that lingering over or impeding anything I might want to do. Once you've paid your debt to society you're entitled to a fresh start.'
who hijacked a plane and forced it to fly to and wants to return to America for the first time Potts is due to return to the U.S. today for the first time since he hijacked a plane in 1984 and plaster cast and forced it to land in Cuba, where