NBC 6’s Julia Bagg has more on the pilot’s first words after becoming a free man.
A Cuban pilot who made headlines with a daring flight to South Florida on an old Russian plane has been released from custody after a judge said he's allowed to stay in the United States.
Ruben Martinez Machado walked out of a detention center in Pompano Beach Friday after spending four months in custody.
Machado thanked everyone who supported him and said the first thing he wants to do is have a beer.
"In the end it was all worth it," he said in Spanish.
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An immigration judge on Thursday accepted Machado's request for political asylum.
Machado made his daring 200-mile journey back in October in a single-engine Antonov An-2 plane.
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He left Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, and landed at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport off Tamiami Trail in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
The Russian-made plane was supposed to be used for soil fumigation in Cuba, but Machado used it to escape the island.
Once he landed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents took him into custody and he's remained behind bars until Friday.
His attorney, Eduardo Soto, had said sending Machado back to Cuba could be a matter of life or death.
