Supporters of Puerto Rican independence welcome the return of Norberto Gonzalez Claudio, 69, at the international airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday Jan. 15, 2015. Gonzalez completed a prison sentence in central Florida for his role in a 1983 holdup in West Hartford. (GERARDO BELLO / Associated Press)

By DANICA COTO
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Supporters of Puerto Rican independence welcomed a 69-year-old islander home Thursday after serving jail time for his role in the 1983 holdup of a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford that netted his militant group $7 million - the largest heist in U.S. history at the time.

Norberto Gonzalez Claudio arrived in the U.S. territory just hours after being released from a prison in Florida. About 150 supporters raised fists and waved Puerto Rican flags as Gonzalez emerged from the airport. Steadied by his wife, he stood on a bench and briefly addressed the crowd in a quiet voice.

"Thank you so much for everything," he said. "Long live a free Puerto Rico!"

Gonzalez eluded the FBI for decades until his arrest in May 2011 while on a morning walk in the central mountain town of Cayey. FBI agents believe he had been living in Puerto Rico all that time under a false name. In June 2012, he pleaded guilty to foreign transportation of stolen money and conspiracy to rob federally insured bank funds as part of a plea agreement.

Avelino Gonzalez, a 72-year-old brother convicted previously in the heist, told The Associated Press that they would never give up the fight for independence.

"We're going to improve his health so he can join the fight once again," Avelino said of his brother.

The brothers belonged to the militant group Los Macheteros. The group claimed responsibility for several robberies, killings and bombings, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, but it has not been tied to any recent violent incidents.

None of the $7 million was recovered. Authorities say it was used to finance the attacks staged by Los Macheteros.

Independence supporters are a small minority in Puerto Rico, with independence never getting more than 5 percent of the vote in four nonbinding referendums that have held seeking to define the island's political status. Voters mainly split between those who want to seek U.S. statehood and those who want to retain the island's status as a U.S. commonwealth.