LOS ANGELES -- A Black Muslim convicted of hijacking a jetliner from Southern California to Cuba was sentenced Monday to 50 years in prison by a judge who denied his claims of religious persecution.
Muhammad Jalal Deen Akbar, 37, comandeered the American Airlines jet at suburban Ontario Airport in April 1980 and forced the eight-member crew to fly the aircraft to Havana.
Akbar, who told the cockpit crew 'I am one of Muhammad's,' claimed at his sentencing hearing that he was being persecuted for his faith in the Black Muslim religion.
'It's not a case of religion,' U.S. District Court Judge A. Andrew Hauk countered. 'It's a case of skyjacking. That's a crime, and a very serious one.'
Akbar, also known as Gerald Marity, had lost his job at a General Electric plant in Ontario the week before the hijacking. He took over the plane before any passengers boarded for a scheduled flight to Chicago.
He was arrested last December while hitchhiking in Ontario, and officials have never determined how he got back to the United States. He was convicted of air piracy by a federal court jury last month.
