Puerto Rico governor faces federal indictment

Published on: 03/27/08

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila is among several people named in a sealed indictment, officials said Thursday, as U.S. authorities made the first arrests in a long-running probe into his party's finances.

An Associated Press reporter saw at least five officials from the Popular Democratic Party as they were led in handcuffs into the U.S. federal building in San Juan.

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An FBI spokesman declined to provide any details, saying there would be news conference later.

Acevedo has said previously that he was a focus of the grand jury probe but he was not among those seen in custody. His spokeswoman said he was still home sleeping at the time of the early morning arrests as far as she knew.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the indictment was still sealed, told The Associated Press that Acevedo was among several people named in the indictment.

A government official also said Acevedo would be charged in the indictment and that the governor's attorneys were expected to appear in court later Thursday. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

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. He is running for re-election this year.

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

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