Four decades after helping hijack a Pan Am plane to Havana, Luis Pena Soltren, 67, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit air piracy, interfering with flight crew members and kidnapping. When he finally surrendered after more than 40 years in Cuba, he was the FBI's longest wanted fugitive. Soltren's co-conspirators, who were arrested in the mid-70s, were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years, but Soltren's looking at a much longer bid because federal sentencing guidelines were made stricter in 1987. He could get at least 21 years to life in prison, though his lawyer is imploring the court to consider the circumstances that drove his client to hijacking.

"His coming back is the ultimate act of remorse," Soltren's lawyer, James E. Neuman, told reporters after the court appearance yesterday. "I'm going to argue he's entitled to a lighter sentence than the co-defendants who pled guilty." (He'll be sentenced in June.) 1968 was a banner year for hijackers, with over 30 planes hijacked or attempted to have been hijacked to Cuba, including two on the same day as Soltren's hijacking. Though many were motivated by political reasons or ransom, Soltren's attorney told the court that his client was desperate to visit his ailing father, but could not legally do so because of U.S. travel prohibitions against Cuba.

Two hours into the flight from JFK to Puerto Rico, Soltren grabbed a flight attendant and held the blade of a pocketknife to her neck. "I told her it was a hijacking," Soltren said through an interpreter in court on Thursday. "And to open the door to the cabin." During questioning, Soltren said some people on board the plane were apparently excited to visit Cuba. One honeymooning New Jersey couple told Time magazine that year that the hijackers "chatted amicably and handed out bullets as souvenirs." When the Judge asked Soltren if the passengers wanted to go to Cuba, he replied, "Well, because of the joy, I think so."