Name Avelino Gonzalez-Claudio | ||
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Avelino Regresa!
Avelino González-Claudio (born May 27, 1945 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican independence activist who served time in a U.S. federal prison for his participation in an armored truck robbery planned by Los Macheteros. 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.
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The robbery
On September 12, 1983, a Wells Fargo armored truck in Hartford, Connecticut, 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.
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 and during which time he had adopted an alias 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, 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.