Biography
José Luis Rodríguez was one of four people arrested in the Chicago area on June 29, 1983 in a major FALN case after months of FBI surveillance, in which the government alleged a plot targeting military installations. After a 1985 trial he was convicted of one count of seditious conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384) but — unlike co-defendants Alberto Rodríguez, Edwin Cortés, and Alejandrina Torres, who received 35-year terms — was given a suspended sentence and five years' probation; his conviction was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit in 1986 (United States v. Rodriguez, 803 F.2d 318). At trial he affirmed support for Puerto Rican independence while denying FALN membership. (This identification is based on the Chicago FALN seditious-conspiracy case; the very common name makes certainty difficult.)
