George Wright

In Exile
Full name:George Edward Wright
Date of birth:29. 03. 1943
Age:83
Gender:Male
Race:Black
Era:1970s
Time Imprisoned:
18 Days
Time in Exile:
54 Years 1 Month 11 Days
Support
Black Liberation Anti-Imperialism Black Liberation Army Black Panther Party
George Wright

Biography

George Wright was a Black Liberation Army member who on July 31, 1972 hijacked Delta Air Lines Flight 841 with a group of four others after it departed Detroit. The group demanded a large ransom and passage to Algeria, where they hoped to join the exiled International Section of the Black Panther Party. Wright eventually relocated to France and later to Guinea-Bissau and then Portugal, where he lived under a new identity, acquired Portuguese citizenship and started a family. Portuguese police arrested him in September 2011 after his fingerprints were matched to his decades-old American fugitive record. Portuguese courts rejected attempts by the American government to have him extradited, ruling that he was protected by Portuguese law and citizenship, and he was subsequently released.

Cases

Charges: Escape from a New Jersey state prison (1970) while serving time
In exile since: Jul 31, 1972
Sentence: Escaped from the New Jersey prison at Leesburg with George Brown on August 22, 1970, while serving 15 to 30 years imposed on a no-contest plea to murder for the 1962 shooting of gas-station proprietor Walter Patterson. Hijacked Delta Air Lines Flight 841 on July 31, 1972 as Reverend Larry Darnell Burgess, dressed as a clergyman with a handgun concealed inside a hollowed-out Bible; survivor and investigative accounts generally identify him as the principal organizer aboard. In exile since the hijacking — Algeria, Guinea-Bissau, then Portugal as José Luís Jorge dos Santos, with Portuguese citizenship. The FBI continues to list him as wanted and living in Portugal; no verified death has been reported.
Convicted: Convicted of the 1962 New Jersey murder (no-contest plea, 15 to 30 years); never tried for the hijacking — Portugal denied extradition
Charges: Detained in Portugal on the American extradition request
Arrested: Sep 26, 2011
Incarcerated: Sep 26, 2011
Released: Oct 14, 2011
In exile since: Oct 14, 2011
Exile ended: Oct 14, 2011
Sentence: Arrested in Portugal on September 26, 2011, after fingerprints connected his Portuguese identity — José Luís Jorge dos Santos — to the American fugitive record; held until his release on October 14, 2011. Portuguese courts denied the American extradition request, and he remains free in Portugal.
Convicted: No — Portuguese courts denied the American extradition request

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