Lawmakers join efforts to free retired Des Plaines pilot in Moroccan prison
Area lawmakers are stepping up efforts to free a 67-year-old, retired Des Plaines airline pilot locked in a Moroccan prison after hearing about his family's unsuccessful struggle to help him.
James Douglas Willson has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a Moroccan court after being convicted of illegally entering that country and drug trafficking.
Wife Jean Willson and daughter Marilyn Brief contend the charges are trumped up and have been trying to prove Willson's innocence to both the U.S. and Moroccan governments.
The family met for 90 minutes behind closed doors Tuesday with Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Sen. Roland Burris.
Arredia said the legislators are now on a fact-finding mission to determine what really happened in Morocco.
According to the family, Willson was touring southern Spain where he met a local pilot who offered to take him on an aerial tour of the country.
Official reports say a mechanical malfunction in the twin-engine Cessna 337 forced an emergency landing in rural northern Morocco on May 7, 2008.
Moroccan authorities, however, believe Willson piloted the plane and was there to pick up drugs, though neither drugs nor money was found on him or the plane. Authorities also never found a second pilot.
Willson's family claims he is wasting away from untreated diabetes, though Moroccan authorities and the U.S. government dispute that.
U.S. Rep Mark Kirk, a Highland Park Republican, has been working for months on the family's behalf with the State Department and Moroccan authorities to ensure Willson is getting the necessary medical treatment.
Arredia said the family was asked to provide a letter detailing Willson's version of events and what they believe was wrong with official Moroccan account of the story.
"It's all hearsay now," Arredia said. "We're going to find out if that's all true ... and what is it going to take to get him back, if he's innocent."
Lawmakers will send a letter to the Moroccan ambassador to the U.S. once a case can be made for Willson's release, said Schakowsky spokesman Trevor Kincaid.
"Our chief job is to make sure that no one's rights were infringed," Kincaid said. "We will press the Moroccan government to look into things to make sure due process was followed. Obviously, we haven't seen all the evidence that is for or against."
Brief, 45, of Green Oaks said the family is hopeful about bringing Willson home after meeting with government officials and receiving support from hundreds of average citizens through e-mails, and comments on their Web site, savejameswillson.com.
"They all promised to do everything that they can to help us get him home," Brief said. "We're nobody. We need the public. It's the average people that understand what we're going through."
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=277608">Wife says innocent Des Plaines man jailed in Morocco on drug charges <span class="date">[3/9/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>