Freddy Valentín Acevedo was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1993 to 1996 and head of the National Republican Party of Puerto Rico, as well as a member of the conservative New Progressive Party which advocates statehood for Puerto Rico.

Biography

Freddy Valentín Acevedo was elected to the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

at the 1992 general elections. During that term, Valentín presided the Commission of Nominations of the Senate. Also,

Héctor Martínez Maldonado Héctor Javier Martínez Maldonado (born September 1, 1968) is a former Puerto Rican politician, attorney and former senator of Puerto Rico. He served as senator of the District of Carolina from 2004 until 2011. Martínez was convicted of bribe ...

worked as his aide in the Senate during that time. Martínez would later testify having received cash and checks from contractors on behalf of Valentín. Valentín lost a special election in 1999. In 2000, he was arrested at the

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín) is a joint civil-military international airport located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, southeast of San Juan. It is named for Luis Muño ...

when he was returning from a trip to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. A Grand Jury indicted him on 44 charges of fraud,

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

. In the process, he testified against contractor José Cobián Guzmán, and former

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

Edison Misla Aldarondo Edison Misla Aldarondo (August 29, 1942 - 30 November 2021) was a Puerto Rican Republican politician who served as the Speaker of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives from 1997 to 2001. He was a founder of the pro-statehood New Progressive ...

in another federal case against them in 2002. Valentín declared himself guilty on February 4, 2004 of some of the charges against him. However, because of his cooperation in the cases against Cobián and Misla Aldarondo, Valentín received only 18 months of sentence, and six years on probation. Valentín has also been linked to an incident on January 11, 1975 at the Mayagüez plaza, where two young men were killed during an activity of supporters of the independence movement to celebrate the birth of

Eugenio María de Hostos Eugenio María de Hostos (January 11, 1839 – August 11, 1903), known as "''El Gran Ciudadano de las Américas''" ("The Great Citizen of the Americas"), was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist, novelist, an ...

.Conny Varela confirma recaudación de fondos en actividad que participó Freddy Valentín
on '' Primera Hora''; Andreu Cuevas, Leila (May 25, 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentin, Freddy Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico Living people New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Politicians from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right Year of birth missing (living people)