King Frees Imprisoned Pilot
James Wilson was held in a Morroccan prison since May 2008
AP
King Mohammed VI of Morocco granted a pardon for James Wilson on Wednesday.
Hail to the King!
After 13 months in a Moroccan prison, a Des Plaines man is back home, thanks to a pardon granted last week by the nation's king.
James Douglas Willson was jailed in May 2007 after a mechanical problem forced him to land a twin-engine Cessna 337 in an area of Morocco frequented by smugglers.
"When my husband got out of the plane," Jean Wilson had said last spring. "All of a sudden, he was encountered and arrested and handcuffed, and my husband didn't know why. They told him he was in Morocco. He said, 'No, I'm in Spain.'"
According to his daughter, Marilyn Brief, Willson is resting at home. The 67-year-old former commercial airline pilot has serious health issues as a result of his prison stay.
"He's in bad shape," Brief told The Daily Herald Monday evening.
Willson, who was without his passport, was convicted of illegally entering the country and drug trafficking. Brief said her father weighed 158 pounds at the start of his prison stint and was more than 50 pounds lighter when he arrived home Friday.
The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, granted Willson a pardon on Wednesday and Willson's unexpected homecoming happened quickly, a far cry from the time it took to prepare the hundreds of e-mails and telephone calls made by the family to American and Moroccan government officials lobbying for his release. Brief said both the Bush and Obama administrations ignored her family's plight, but she singled out Congressman Mark Kirk's staff for helping to bring her father home by being in constant contact with officials in the Moroccan cities of Casablanca and Rabat.
Brief and her mother, Jean Wilson, launched their own campaign to bring the imprisoned pilot home, including a meeting with representatives from the offices of Sen. Roland Burris and Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
In recent months, Brief has said the trauma had taken its toll on her mother's health..
Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 2:34 AM CST
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