Avelino González-Claudio
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Avelino González-Claudio
OR:
Avelino González-Claudio on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Avelino González-Claudio (October 8, 1942 – July 9, 2019) was a Puerto Rican
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
activist who served time in a U.S. federal prison for his participation in an armored truck robbery planned by
Los Macheteros The ''Ejército Popular Boricua'' ("Boricua Popular/People's Army"), also known as ''Los Macheteros'' ("The Machete Wielders"), is a clandestine militant and insurgent organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the states and other natio ...
. Although the robbery took place in 1983, González-Claudio was not apprehended until 25 years later, in 2008. After pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, González-Claudio was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2010. He was released three years later, in 2013.


The robbery

On September 12, 1983, a
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
armored truck in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, was robbed of more than $7 million. The robbery, code-named " White Eagle", was "the largest cash heist in U.S. history" at the time of its commission.Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (obituary)
''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', September 29, 2005. Accessed April 5, 2006. (''The Economist'' Printed edition: October 1, 2005; Vol. 377; Issue 8446; Page 82.)''The Hartford'' (Connecticut, USA) ''Courant''. February 8, 2008. "Wells Fargo Fugitive Captured: Suspect Allegedly Transported Cash From $7 Million Robbery To Mexico" By Edmund H. Mahony, Courant Staff Writer
Retrieved November 30, 2009.


Arrests

In 1985, González-Claudio was accused in absentia of having planned the robbery as a member of Los Macheteros. González-Claudio was apprehended in 2008, after more than 20 years as a
fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...
and during which time he had adopted an
alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...
that allowed him to work as a teacher in Puerto Rico. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy for robbery and, in 2010, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Prosecutors argued for the necessity of a substantial sentence in spite of González-Claudio's age and
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
, fearing that he could still be influential in the Los Macheteros organization, as authorities had found in February 2008 "documents in Gonzalez-Claudio's home that they say showed he was still involved with the group." Gonzalez-Claudio was released from prison on 5 February 2013. During his time as a fugitive he communicated with his wife via correspondence. In May 2011, his brother Norberto González-Claudio was arrested for his participation in the robbery. Norberto was released on January 15, 2015.


Death

Avelino Gonzalez-Claudio died on July 9, 2019.


See also

*
Oscar López Rivera Oscar López Rivera (born January 6, 1943) is a Puerto Rican activist and militant who was a member and suspected leader of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN), a clandestine paramilitary organization devoted to ...
*
Carlos Alberto Torres Carlos Alberto "Capita" Torres (17 July 1944 – 25 October 2016), also known as "O Capitão do Tri", was a Brazilian football player and manager who played as an attacking right-sided full-back or wing-back. A technically gifted defender w ...
*
Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer is a Puerto Rican activist. Segarra is one of the founders of the clandestine Puerto Rican pro-independence group Los Macheteros. In 1989, he was convicted of seditious conspiracy, and weapons and conspiracy charges, ...
*
Edwin Cortes Edwin Cortes was a Puerto Rican nationalist and member of the FALN who received a sentence of 35 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on October 5, 1985, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison. However, he was ...
*
Pedro Albizu Campos Pedro Albizu Campos (September 12, 1891Luis Fortuño Janeiro. ''Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963).'' p. 290. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and the leading fi ...
*
Oscar Collazo Oscar Collazo (January 20, 1914 – February 21, 1994) was one of two Puerto Rican militants of the Nationalist Party who on November 1, 1950, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC. He had been living i ...
*
Lolita Lebrón Lolita Lebrón (November 19, 1919 – August 1, 2010) was a Puerto Rican nationalist who was convicted of attempted murder and other crimes after carrying out an armed attack on the United States Capitol in 1954, which resulted in the wound ...
*
Puerto Rican independence movement Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States. A spectrum of pro-autonomy, p ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez-Claudio, Avelino 1942 births 2019 deaths History of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican nationalists People from Vega Baja, Puerto Rico Imprisoned Puerto Rican independence activists Boricua Popular Army members Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government