An American accused of hijacking an Air Canada jet more than 30 years ago will be back in a Toronto court today. Patrick Critton is charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, and extortion.

His lawyer, Irving Andre, says his client is not a terrorist and shouldn't be penalized for what happened on September 11th. Andre said his client intended to waive his right to a preliminary hearing with the aim of entering a plea next month.

"The difficulty with Patrick is that his case has essentially been hijacked by the events of September 11,'' Andre said, adding there was no connection between his client and the terror attacks.

Police forces on both sides of the border spent three decades hunting for Critton following the hijacking of an Air Canada plane to Cuba in 1971.

Critton was arrested in his Mount Vernon, N.Y. home several days before the September 11 terrorist attacks. At the time of his arrest, New York Police spokesman Charles Wells said he had been waiting for the moment to arrive.

"When he came back in 1994, he thought all sorts of alarms would go off,'' Wells said. Critton resumed teaching in New York City when he returned to the United States and he was surprised no one noticed his return.

The Air Canada DC-9 en route from Thunder Bay to Toronto was hijacked on Dec. 26, 1971 after a man with a handgun and hand grenade threatened the cabin crew. The passengers were allowed to disembark when the jet landed in Toronto as planned.

After being refuelled, the crew of six were forced to take the plane to Cuba. The hijacker left the jet after it landed in Havana and was last seen being taken away by Cuban authorities.

Canada's extradition treaty with Cuba didn't include the crime of hijacking at the time, and the man was released. But Critton became a suspect after police took fingerprints from a soda can on the plane.

A warrant was issued for Critton's arrest on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery and extortion on January 5, 1972. Canadian police found someone with Critton's name and Social Security number after doing an Internet search of public databases in June.

Wells said that with the help of U.S. authorities, they learned Critton had taught elementary school in New York City in 1969, and took fingerprints from his personnel file.

Police then devised a ruse and went to Critton's neighborhood with a photo of a missing child. Police allege they found prints that matched sets from the Board of Education files and the fingerprints on the soda can.

Wells said Critton had became involved with a Black Panther splinter group called the Republic of New Africa in the early 1970s. It's believed he stayed in Cuba for three years and then in Tanzania for another 20 years.