FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A former U.S. Marine recently released from an Iranian prison in a prisoner-swap deal is returning to Michigan.

The office of Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee says Amir Hekmati is scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon at Flint’s Bishop International Airport.

The 32-year-old Hekmati has been at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany since his release over the weekend. He recounted Tuesday how disbelief turned to joy when he and three fellow Americans realized they were being freed.

Asked about his 4 1/2 -years in Iranian prison, Hekmati said “it wasn’t good,” but that his Marine training helped sustain him.

Convicted by an Iranian court of spying and sentenced to death in 2012, Hekmati was later retried and given a 10-year sentence on a lesser charge.