Special Agent Dan Curtin, of the FBI's New Haven, Conn., field office, declined to answer specific questions about any of the evidence against Gonzalez or what led to his arrest. He said the fact that Gonzalez was finally brought to justice was testament to the commitment of all the agents who worked on the case.
"As far as the FBI is concerned, if they have a warrant for someone, whether it's 45 years or three or four months old, we don't give up," Curtin said. "Generations of agents have worked on this arrest and never given up."
When Gonzalez was arrested, Richard Reeve, now a private attorney in Hartford, was appointed to represent him. Reeve said it would have been difficult for authorities to find witnesses for a trial after so many years had passed. That, plus the fact that Gonzalez apparently didn't run afoul of the law in the 26 years since the robbery, helped lead to the five-year plea deal. "That's part of what both parties looked at in resolving this case," he said. "This is a fair deal."
Reeve took issue with only one point. U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello has called for Gonzalez-Claudio to pay the entire $7.1 million in theft proceeds in restitution. "I think an appeal [on that issue] is certainly a possibility," Reeve said.
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