Topic: Anibal Acevedo Vila

Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born February 13, 1962) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus (LL.M. 1987) and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree. Acevedo Vilá has held various public service positions in the Puerto Rico territorial government under the Popular Democratic Party, serving as a member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico (1993–2001) and Resident Commissioner (2001–2005), before he was sworn in as Governor on January 2, 2005. Acevedo Vilá was also a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association and the Democratic Governors Association, and a collaborator of President Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

On March 27, 2008, Acevedo Vilá was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on 19 counts of campaign finance violations. He subsequently organized a press conference, where he claimed that he is innocent of all charges presented against him. On August 19, 2008, he was charged with five more counts. On December 1, 2008 Judge Paul Barbadoro determined that 15 of those charges were based on a flawed theory, leaving him with only nine charges. On March 20, 2009, Acevedo Vilá was found by a jury not guilty of all the charges against him.

On November 4, 2008, he failed in his bid for a second term, losing to incumbent Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño. Two days later he stepped down as president of the Popular Democratic Party.