Ex-Rep. Rivera Gets 10 Years for Venezuela Lobbying
Former Congressman David Rivera sentenced to 10 years for working with Venezuela’s Maduro regime.
2 min read
Former U.S. Congressman David Rivera has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for secretly lobbying on behalf of the Venezuelan government and laundering millions of dollars tied to the country’s regime. The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian, follows a May conviction on charges of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts involving transactions with criminally derived property.
Case Involves $50 Million Contract
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said the case centered on a $50 million contract that Rivera and co-defendant Esther Nuhfer obtained with a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA. The pair worked to advance the interests of then-President Nicolás Maduro without registering as foreign agents, according to the DOJ.
Trial evidence showed that Rivera and Nuhfer lobbied U.S. officials, including then-Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Pete Sessions, and arranged meetings between U.S. policymakers and senior Venezuelan officials, including Maduro and then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez. They also used coded language in text messages to conceal their conduct.
Rivera directed $1.5 million from the contract to his campaign account between March 2017 and August 2018, according to the DOJ. Jason A. Reding Quiñones, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, emphasized that the sentence demonstrates that “foreign influence in America cannot operate in the shadows.”
“For a former Congressman from South Florida, this betrayal cuts especially deep,” Quiñones said. “Rivera represented a community shaped by generations of families who fled communist oppression and came to this country seeking freedom. He knew that history. He knew what this community had endured. Yet the jury found that, for millions of dollars, he secretly used the access and relationships entrusted to him to advance the interests of the Maduro regime.”
Public Trust and FBI Role
Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office said the sentencing is a “meaningful step toward restoring public trust in the integrity of our democratic processes.” Skiles also highlighted the FBI’s role in investigating and uncovering the unlawful conduct, noting that “no attempt to conceal unlawful conduct will remain beyond the FBI’s reach.”
Rivera, 61, was elected to the House in November 2010 and served one term before losing reelection. He was indicted in 2022, marking the start of a legal battle that led to his conviction and sentencing.
Source: Daily Wire
