Fugitive in Wells Fargo Heist Captured

 A militant Puerto Rican nationalist and alleged key conspirator in the notorious 1983 Wells Fargo robbery at an armored car depot in West Hartford was captured Tuesday in Puerto Rico, the FBI said.

Norberto Gonzalez-Claudio, 65, was arrested in Cayey after 25 years on the run for his role in a $7.1 million robbery that was among the largest in U.S. history.

With his arrest, one fugitive remains from the Sept. 12, 1983 heist – Victor Manuel Gerena of Hartford, the so-called inside man who is believed to be in Cuba.

Gerena has been on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list since May 14, 1984. When convicted West Hartford murderer recently in Mexico – after 22 years in hiding – Chief James Strillacci said Gerena had moved toward the top of his personal most wanted list.

Gonzalez joined his brother, Avelino, in federal custody. Norberto Gonzalez was captured while apparently jogging in Cayey, a centrally located town in the U.S. territory.

“He seemed a bit surprised,” Luis Fraticelli, FBI special agent for Puerto Rico, told the Associated Press.

Avelino Gonzalez was captured Feb. 8, 2008, also in Puerto Rico, where he reportedly was a schoolteacher in Manati on the northern coast. Avelino Gonzalez was sentenced last year to seven years in prison.

A third brother, Orlando, was also convicted for a role in the robbery but has been released from prison.

Norberto and Avelino Gonzalez were allegedly key figures in a violent separatist group, Los Macheteros. In the late 1970s and early ’80s the group boasted responsibility for several terrorist acts, including eight bombings in Puerto Rico and the shooting deaths of two U.S. sailors, according to The Hartford Courant.

Norberto Gonzalez is expected to be extradited to Connecticut to face multiple charges, including bank robbery, transportation of stolen money, and conspiracy.

Federal authorities still consider Los Macheteros – translated as Machete Wielders or Cane Cutters –a threat to national security, Fraticelli said.

“As long as they continue to advocate the independence of Puerto Rico by force they will always pose a danger,” Fraticelli said.

In September 2005, Filiberto Ojeda-Rios, the founder and leader of Los Macheteros, was located in Puerto Rico and died in a gunfight with federal agents at an isolated farmhouse.

Ojeda-Rios reportedly came to Hartford to recruit Gerena, whose mother reportedly sympathized with Los Macheteros.

The FBI said Gerena, who was working as a driver for Wells Fargo, took two security guards hostage at gunpoint then handcuffed, bound and injected them with an unknown substance to further disable them.

On the day of the heist, Gerena, who was engaged, dropped off his fiancée at Hartford City Hall to pick up a marriage license. Police said he spent most of the day with his co-workers, James McKeon and Timothy Girard, before turning on both. He then allegedly put $7 million in the trunk of his car and disappeared.

Gerena apparently made his way to Mexico, where he boarded a plane for Havana.

There is a $1 million reward for information leading to Gerena’s capture.