A former south Florida congressman who built his career denouncing communists just got ten years in federal prison — for secretly working for one.
The contract
David Rivera served in the Florida House and one term in Congress from 2011 to 2013. In March 2017, prosecutors say, he and associate Esther Nuhfer signed a $50 million contract with a US subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA — to lobby Washington on behalf of the Maduro regime without ever registering as its agent.
The chats
The scheme lived in an encrypted messaging group code-named “MIA,” and the jurors got to read all of it. Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez — the official who tapped Rivera for the job — was “Lady in Red.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions was “Sombrero.” Marco Rubio, Rivera’s former Tallahassee housemate, was “Miss Clairol.” Maduro himself was “the bus driver.” About $20 million of the contract was actually paid before the regime cut the payments off.
The defense
Rivera’s position at trial was that he was playing a long game — secretly aiding the Venezuelan opposition while collecting regime money. The jury heard five weeks of testimony, including from Marco Rubio himself, who said he had no idea and felt betrayed. On May 1, after five weeks, they rejected the defense on every single count.
The sentence
On October 2, US District Judge Melissa Damian sentenced Rivera to ten years in federal prison, calling it “a classic money laundering case.” He has been in custody since the May verdict. A second federal case — a separate $5.5 million lobbying scheme involving Venezuelan-american businessman Raúl Gorrín — is still pending in Washington. Nuhfer was sentenced to five years in August.
Rivera, 61, is presumed innocent on the pending case — and the encrypted chats he thought would stay secret are now a matter of public record.
#OhDangReally #DavidRivera #Maduro #Venezuela #Miami
