Governor of Puerto Rico faces charges

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO —  Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila denied wrongdoing Thursday and gave no sign he would abandon his reelection effort after being charged with campaign finance violations that carry a penalty of 20 years in prison.

Acevedo said that U.S. prosecutors’ indictment -- which alleges that the governor and a dozen other people conspired to pay off his campaign debts illegally -- was politically motivated.

“I am going to defend my rights and protect the dignity of my family and of the people of Puerto Rico who support me,” the governor said in a statement hours after the FBI arrested most of those named in the indictment in San Juan, Philadelphia and Washington.

Acevedo served in Washington as the island’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, then was elected governor in 2004 after campaigning on an anti- corruption platform.

“I want to assure the people of Puerto Rico that I have never solicited nor accepted a contribution in exchange for a government contract, never permitted the illegal use of public funds nor acted illegally,” he said.

“I know very well several of those accused today, and I am convinced that they never accepted a bribe or stole a single cent.”

Acevedo canceled all his public events and remained in the island’s powder-blue colonial governor’s residence with his wife and two children. He said he would turn himself in today.

In a brief address on Puerto Rican television Thursday evening, he repeated his denials and accused U.S. authorities of distracting him from trying to revive the island’s struggling economy.

“They want blood, not your well-being,” he said.

The governor did not take questions.

His indictment on 19 charges, including conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws, conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and giving false testimony to the FBI, made him the latest U.S. governor to run into legal trouble.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, resigned this month after federal agents publicly identified him as a client of a high-priced prostitution ring.

Acevedo’s indictment could create some awkward moments for Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois if they campaign as expected on the island ahead of its June 1 Democratic primary.

The governor is one of the island’s seven superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer and has endorsed Obama.

Acevedo has no formal role in the campaign, Obama spokeswoman Amy Brundage said.