Friday, May 20, 2011

Puerto Rican nationalist facing charges in 1983 heist pleads not guilty in Hartford

PAT EATON-ROBB  Associated Press May 20, 2011

HARTFORD, Conn. ­ A Puerto Rican nationalist
sought by U.S. authorities for more than 25 years
has pleaded not guilty to charges in connection
with one of the nation's largest bank robberies.

Sixty-five-year-old Norberto Gonzalez Claudio
faces 15 counts, including bank robbery,
conspiracy and transportation of stolen money for
his alleged role in the 1983 robbery of $7
million at a Wells Fargo armored car depot in West
Hartford, Conn.

Gonzalez was originally charged in 1985. He is
suspected of helping smuggle the cash out of the
U.S. mainland with the Los Macheteros militant independence group.

Gonzalez appeared Friday in U.S. District Court
in Hartford, where he was ordered held without bond.

Victor Manuel Gerena, the Wells Fargo driver who
allegedly stole the money, remains the only suspect still at large.

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