Puerto Rico governor surrenders to FBI
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - March 28, 2008 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.
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Associated Press writer Manuel Ernesto Rivera in San Juan
contributed to this report.
