Another Democrat indicted by the Justice Department

His supporters say he's a target of the Bush crime syndicate. His detractors say he's been corrupt for a long time. But either way, Puerto Rico Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (right) and a number of other prominent Puerto Ricans are facing some pretty serious charges. (Acevedo is a member of Puerto Rico's Popular Democratic Party, a cognate of the U.S. Democratic Party.)

[Gov. Acevedo] is expected to be arrested Thursday and charged with six campaign related charges: conspiracy to violate election laws, making false statements, wire fraud, program fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and filing a false tax return.

The 27-count indictment began with a long-running grand jury probe into how the governor funded his election to Puerto Rico's resident commissioner, the nonvoting position in Congress he held prior to becoming governor.

According to U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia González, the governor and his allies in Puerto Rico and Philadelphia conspired to pay off campaign finance debt with fake invoices and straw contributions. The governor, she said, also used campaign funds to pay for family vacations to Miami, Orlando and Costa Rica.

He also allegedly sent his children to China using campaign funds and bought $57,000 worth of luxury suits, said FBI agent in charge Luis Fraticelli.

[...]

Acevedo maintains that the drawn-out grand jury investigation into his finances is the product of a witch hunt. As members of Acevedo's staff and even his family were paraded to the grand jury in a prolonged probe, the governor's supporters claimed the case is another example of a Republican-led Justice Department going after Democrats.

Acevedo, a member of Puerto Rico's Popular Democratic Party, is in the midst of a reelection campaign.

He has been dogged for several years by allegations that his campaign committee padded his war chest with ''straw contributions,'' -- illegal contributions submitted under other people's names to skirt donation limits.

Subpoenas were issued in 2006 for hundreds of Puerto Rico secretary of state documents relating to more than 60 people tied to a handful of Philadelphia fundraisers.

The fundraisers helped collect campaign contributions for Acevedo while he was resident commissioner, Puerto Rico's nonvoting representative in Congress.

Political operatives in Philadelphia are accused of submitting contributions in the names of relatives and employees of a Pennsylvania dental company.

A number of those Philadelphia contacts as well as members of his local campaign finance committee were among those accused.

The Philadelphia fundraising operatives have denied wrongdoing.

This is the first I've heard of the investigation into Acevedo's background but, particularly when juxtaposed with the recent arrest of Miami attorney Ben Kuehne on unrelated charges, there does seem to be an interesting pattern of DOJ probes of prominent Democrats. Justified or not, the Acevedo case bears watching.