Former U.S. Congressman David Rivera was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in federal prison for secretly acting as an unregistered agent of the Venezuelan government and laundering millions of dollars connected to that work.
U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian imposed the sentence after a federal jury convicted Rivera, 61, of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), violating FARA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property.
“Today’s sentence reinforces a simple rule: foreign influence in America cannot operate in the shadows,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “If you act at the request, direction, or control of a foreign government and engage in covered political activity, you must comply with our disclosure laws. That can include conduct like arranging a meeting with policymakers, lobbying a government official, or promoting a foreign government’s message on social media. For a former congressman from South Florida, this betrayal cuts especially deep. 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."
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Rivera and co-defendant Esther Nuhfer obtained a $50 million contract with a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), to advance the interests of the Venezuelan regime in the U.S.
Without registering as foreign agents as required by law, Rivera and Nuhfer lobbied U.S. officials, including then-U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and U.S. Representative Pete Sessions, and arranged meetings between U.S. policymakers and high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including then-President Nicolás Maduro and then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez. Rivera and Nuhfer used coded language in text messages to describe their activities.
Nuhfer, 52, who was convicted at trial of conspiracy to violate FARA, violating FARA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in a transaction in criminally derived property, was previously sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.
“Today’s sentence of 10 years is the consequence of that choice. In South Florida, we will aggressively enforce the laws that protect our country and our communities from covert foreign influence.”
The evidence at trial further showed that Rivera deposited approximately $1.5 million in proceeds from the contract to his Florida state congressional campaign account between March 2017 and August 2018, among other personnel uses. Nuhfer used approximately $455,000 in proceeds to purchase a residence in Key Colony Beach.
“Today’s sentencing represents a meaningful step toward restoring public trust in the integrity of our democratic processes,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office. “It also demonstrates the impact of federal partners working together and combining their investigative expertise. And no attempt to conceal unlawful conduct will remain beyond the FBI’s reach.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harold Schimkat and Roger Cruz, along with Trial Attorney David Ryan of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, are prosecuting the case.
“This case shows that laundering illicit funds in the United States will not go unchecked,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles E. Miller of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Florida Field Office. “The partnership between IRS-CI and our law enforcement counterparts was vital in exposing this operation and protecting the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”
FBI Miami and IRS-CI Florida Field Office are investigating the case. This investigation is supported by the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF).
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