Former Florida Congressman Sentenced to 10 Years for Unregistered Venezuelan Lobbying

David Rivera, a former Republican member of Congress from Florida, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for money laundering and acting as an undeclared foreign agent.

The 61-year-old was convicted in May following a seven-week trial that revealed Venezuela’s state-run oil company had engaged his consulting firm to lobby Congress in an effort to improve bilateral relations between Washington and Caracas.

During the proceedings, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Texas Congressman Pete Sessions both took the stand to confirm they were unaware of Rivera’s activities.

Rivera’s defense counsel argued the lobbying efforts were directed at a US subsidiary of the oil company rather than the Venezuelan government itself.

Rivera’s associate, political consultant Esther Nuhfer, who faced trial alongside him, was also convicted in the matter.

As part of his sentence, Rivera, who served in the House from 2011 to 2013, is required to forfeit his real estate holdings in Florida.

Florida federal prosecutors described the operation as a “secret political influence campaign,” claiming Rivera and Nuhfer received a $50 million (£37 million) contract for three months of work on behalf of Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA.

Prosecutors alleged that between 2017 and 2018, acting at the request of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration, the pair attempted to lobby Rubio—then a senator and Rivera’s former housemate—as well as former senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.

The scheme unfolded during a period of strained US-Venezuela relations under President Donald Trump’s first term, when the administration had imposed sanctions on the South American nation.

Defenders of Rivera and Nuhfer contended that foreign agent registration was not required because their contractual agreement was with a US-domiciled subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned enterprise.

However, Judge Melissa Damian remarked during Friday’s sentencing: “There’s no dispute this money came from the Maduro regime.”

Rubio, who was not implicated in the wrongdoing, testified that although he and Rivera had been close friends, he did not know he was working as a lobbyist.

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