Hunter Walterman
•7/18/2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)— A Cuban man convicted of hijacking an airplane in 2003 is speaking out after the federal judge who ordered his release from immigration detention died.
Maikel Guerra Morales said he is grateful for Senior Judge John E. Steele, who died shortly after a controversial opinion landed him in the crosshairs of a Southwest Florida congressman.
Morales, a Cuban national, was convicted of aircraft piracy after federal prosecutors said he helped hijack a commuter plane in Cuba in 2003. Morales forced the pilot to fly to Key West in what investigators said was an attempt to reach the United States. He was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
After completing his prison sentence, ICE took Morales into custody while trying to deport him. Last week, Steele ordered Morales to be released after more than six months in custody.
The judge found ICE did not have a concrete plan to deport him, violating a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against indefinite detention of migrants.
"Regardless of the different opinion that may exist about my case, I will always remember Judge Steele as a man who honored the oath he took when he assumed his office," Morales told WINK News as part of a prepared statement. "To apply the law with independence, integrity, and justice."
Morales said he learned about Steele's death after a friend sent him a news article. Morales spoke to WINK News from his home in Lubbock, Texas, where he is under federal immigration supervision.
Steele's death became public knowledge after Rep. Greg Steube announced articles of impeachment against the judge on Thursday. Steube said the judge threatened public safety by releasing Morales.
In a July 8 ruling, Judge Steele found ICE detained Morales after he was released from prison. The agency started removal proceedings until an immigration judge deferred deportation over a Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim.
Migrants must demonstrate it's likely they will be tortured or killed in their home country to win a CAT claim. ICE released Guerra Morales in March of 2023 under an order of supervision, Steele wrote.
Despite complying with the terms of his supervision, Steele wrote that ICE arrested Guerra Morales in December 2025 with the intention of sending him to Mexico.
Steele found that ICE held Morales for more than six months without a concrete plan to deport him, violating a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The judge wrote that ICE provided no evidence it communicated with Mexico about Morales.
The judge said ICE could re-detain Morales if deportation is reasonably foreseeable.
"[ICE] have had more than three years since Guerra Morales's order of removal-and more than six months since his present detention-to remove him from the United States," Steele wrote. "[they] are still unable to articulate a specific plans for his removal to Cuba, Mexico, or another country."
Steube argued that Steele's ruling put public safety at risk.
"This is exactly the kind of activist judicial overreach the American people are sick of," Steube said in a statement. "ICE had a convicted aircraft pirate in custody while pursuing his removal, and Judge Steele ordered him released within 24 hours despite obvious public safety concerns."
The Department of Homeland Security also criticized the decision.
"This activist judge forced ICE to release a criminal illegal alien who was convicted and sentenced to 22 years for hijacking a plane back into American communities," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
WINK News reached out to Steube's office on Thursday for comment on the judge's death but did not hear back.
Steele served as a federal judge in the Middle District of Florida since 1990. Former President Bill Clinton appointed him to a new seat in 2000, according to Steele's biography.
Morales said he wanted to honor the judge's memory and move past the politics. He promised to speak about the details of his case in another interview.
"We live in times when our difference often divide us, but today I do not want to speak about our difference," Morales said. "Today, I want to speak about respect. Respect for a man who dedicate a great part of his life to serving justice."
