Avelino González-Claudio (October 8, 1942, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico – July 9, 2019) was a Puerto Rican independence activist who served time in a U.S. federal prison for his participation in the more than US$7 million (equivalent to more than $21.4 million in 2023) Águila Blanca armored truck robbery planned by Los Macheteros.
After pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, González-Claudio was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2010.
[2] The robbery, code-named "Águila Blanca" ("White Eagle"), was "the largest cash heist in U.S. history" at the time of its commission.
[5] 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.
[6][7] 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.