U.S. charges Puerto Rican governor in campaign finance probe

DAYLY NEWS
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U.S. charges Puerto Rican governor in campaign finance probe
The Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila was charged Thursday with 19 crimes, including conspiracy to violate U.S. federal campaign laws, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and giving false testimony to the FBI.

The indictment also charged 12 others associated with Acevedo's Popular Democratic Party as a result of a two-year grand jury investigation, acting U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said.

Acevedo, who is running for re-election in November, dismissed the indictment as nothing but politics and "a spectacle designed to damage me."

The governor's written statement did not go into specifics about federal prosecutors' alleged motives, but Acevedo has accused U.S. authorities of targeting him because he criticized a September 2005 FBI raid in which a fugitive Puerto Rican militant was killed.

The defendants in Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and the Philadelphia area allegedly conspired to illegally raise money to pay off Acevedo's campaign debts from his 2000 and 2002 campaigns for Congress, where he served as a non-voting representative of the U.S. island territory.

Acevedo said he will turn himself in Friday morning. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, Rodriguez said.

She said he will not be arrested, but at least five others named in the indictment were led in handcuffs into the U.S. federal building in San Juan early Thursday morning.

"The governor will be permitted to turn himself in deference to his position," she said.

Acevedo also is a superdelegate for the U.S. Democratic Party who has pledged to support Sen. Barack Obama.

Thomas Green, a Washington-based attorney for Acevedo, said he had not yet reviewed the charges but criticized the election-year indictment as "an unprecendented and undeserved intrusion by the federal government" in Puerto Rican affairs.

Acevedo's claims of persecution have support in Puerto Rico, where many feel a deep-rooted nationalism and hostility toward the U.S. federal government.

A Harvard-educated attorney and career politician, Acevedo, 45, served in Washington as the island's nonvoting delegate to Congress, and was elected governor in 2004 after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.

Acevedo and his associates are accused of conducting unreported fundraising to far exceed funding limits during his 2004 campaign for governor. As part of the fraud, they allegedly used their own or their companies' money to cover unreported debts to the campaign's public relations and media company.

The 55-page indictment alleges that Acevedo also personally helped a group of Philadelphia-area businessman in their efforts to obtain Puerto Rican government contracts after they delivered illegal campaign contributions from their own staff and family members.

Five defendants from Pennsylvania have been accused of conspiracy, including Candido Negron Mella of Glenn Mills, who served as the governor's U.S. deputy campaign finance chairman.

Acevedo's party favors maintaining the island's semiautonomous relationship with the U.S. mainland. His leading opponent in this year's governor's race favors making Puerto Rico the 51st state.

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/03/27/2008-03-27_us_charges_puerto_rican_governor_in_camp.html

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Puerto Rican governor pleads not guilty to corruption charges
The Associated Press

Updated Friday, March 28th 2008, 10:10 AM

Linsley/Ap

Puerto Rico's Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, center, turns himself in to FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Jose Figueroa, right, at the U.S. Federal Court Building, in San Juan, Friday.

Acevedo is charged with conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws and defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and giving false testimony to the FBI — 19 counts in all with a total sentence of 20 years in prison if he's convicted.

His response has been to stoke Puerto Rican nationalism, describing the federal indictment as an attack against all islanders.

"I will put up a fight for Puerto Rico" he declared after being booked, and emerged into a raucous crowd of some 300 supporters, exchanging hugs and high-fives.

But not all Puerto Ricans see Acevedo's problem as their own.

The governor should resign, said Luis Fortuno, the island's nonvoting congressional delegate and Acevedo's chief rival as he seeks re-election in November.

"He does not have the moral standing to govern the people and resolve this mess that he has gotten us into," Fortuno said.

Acevedo vowed "to remain firm as governor of all Puerto Ricans" at a press conference he later held at his residence in La Fortaleza, a powder-blue mansion where governors have ruled since the 17th century.

Acevedo then walked along Old San Juan's cobblestone streets to buy himself a coffee, projecting defiance and a business-as-usual attitude.

But away from the cameras, inside the FBI's offices, he appeared somber as he was fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken, FBI agent Brenda Diaz said.

"He's starting to grasp what's going on," Diaz said. "It doesn't hit you until you get here."

The governor later appeared composed and winked at reporters as he left the courtroom where Thomas Green, his Washington-based attorney, wasted no time in saying Acevedo "pleads not guilty to each and every count."

Magistrate Margaret Kravchuck released Acevedo on his own recognizance but required him to check in with authorities once a month by telephone and notify them before he travels outside Puerto Rico. No trial date was set.

The indictment accuses Acevedo and a dozen associates of illegally raising money to pay off more than $500,000 in campaign debts from his two terms as Puerto Rico's nonvoting delegate to Congress from 2000-2004.

He accused the Justice Department of targeting him because he criticized an FBI raid in which a fugitive militant for Puerto Rican independence was killed, and because he opposes the death penalty, which can only be imposed in the island for federal crimes.

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/03/28/2008-03-28_puerto_rican_governor_pleads_not_guilty_.html
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Puerto Rico governor surrenders to FBI on corruption charges
Associated Press

Friday, March 28th 2008, 10:10 AM

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila surrendered Friday to face corruption charges in an alleged campaign finance scheme as hundreds of flag-waving supporters turned out to cheer him.

Acevedo arrived at the federal courthouse to be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken before appearing in front of a federal magistrate.

The governor, charged with 19 counts that carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years, is the first Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges since the island became a semiautonomous U.S. commonwealth in 1952.

The indictment accuses Acevedo and a dozen associates of illegally raising money to pay off more than $500,000 in campaign debts from his two terms as Puerto Rico's nonvoting delegate to Congress from 2000-2004.

Acevedo did not address reporters before entering the courthouse Friday. He has denied any wrongdoing and accused U.S. authorities of a launching a politically motivated attack.

Acevedo, who is up for re-election this year, said in a televised address Thursday that he will not resign.

"While I will vigorously defend my actions, my family and my honor, I will never let a politically motivated process distract me from the job I do for you," he said.

However, at a Thursday night meeting with members of his Popular Democratic Party, Acevedo agreed to do anything necessary — including resign — to keep the investigation from harming the organization, former party leader Miguel Hernandez Agosto said.

"That, to me, is a very serious, important and patriotic declaration," Hernandez said. "You cannot be more clear."

Acevedo had accused the Justice Department of targeting him for his criticism of a 2005 FBI raid in Puerto Rico in which a fugitive independence militant was killed.

He also says he is being targeted for his opposition to the death penalty, which can only be imposed in the island for federal crimes.

Acting U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez and the head of the FBI in San Juan have denied that the charges against him were politically motivated.

The governor's Popular Democratic Party supports maintaining Puerto Rico's semiautonomous relationship to the United States.

His chief rival in November's gubernatorial election, who wants the island to become the 51st state, called on Acevedo to resign.

The governor "does not have the moral standing to govern the people and resolve this mess that he has gotten us into," said Luis Fortuno, who is also the island's nonvoting congressional delegate.

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/03/28/2008-03-28_puerto_rico_governor_surrenders_to_fbi_o.html