10 Years: Ex-GOP Congressman David Rivera Jailed for Secret Venezuela Lobbying
October 4, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
David Rivera, a former Florida Republican congressman, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for secretly lobbying on behalf of Nicolás Maduro's government under a $50 million contract.
Ten years. That is the sentence U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian handed David Rivera, 61, on Friday, after a federal jury convicted the former Florida Republican congressman of secretly lobbying for Nicolás Maduro's government while publicly positioning himself as an anti-communist crusader.
The case centered on a $50 million contract, according to the Department of Justice, that Rivera and co-defendant Esther Nuhfer secured with PDV USA, a New York-based affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA. Rivera had faced a maximum of 60 years in federal prison and a potential $20 million asset forfeiture, CBS News reported. He will also forfeit properties in Doral and the Florida Keys.
A federal jury in Miami convicted Rivera in May on all counts after a seven-week trial, the DOJ confirmed. The charges included conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts involving transactions with criminally derived property. Co-defendant Nuhfer was found guilty on all counts as well.
Prosecutors alleged that Rivera and Nuhfer worked from 2017 to 2018 to soften U.S. policy toward Venezuela without registering as foreign agents, CBS News reported. They lobbied then-Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Representative Pete Sessions, arranging meetings for then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez in New York, Caracas, Washington and Dallas. Sessions later agreed to deliver a letter from Maduro to President Donald Trump after a secret meeting in Caracas, according to CBS News.
To hide the arrangement, Rivera set up an encrypted chat group called "MIA" with Venezuelan media tycoon Raúl Gorrín, his main conduit to the Maduro government, according to the New York Post. Members used code names: Maduro was the "bus driver," Sessions "Sombrero," Rodríguez "The Lady in Red," and Rubio "Miss Clairol" (rubio means blond in Spanish). Payments were referred to as "La Luz," the Spanish word for "the light." The DOJ said Rivera directed $1.5 million from the contract into his campaign account between March 2017 and August 2018. A wire transfer of $3.75 million went to a South Florida company that maintained Gorrín's luxury yacht, CBS News reported.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said Rivera "sold his reputation to communists to fill his greed," CBS News reported. "This was not some paperwork violation, or a simple mistake," Quiñones said. FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles said the sentence proved that "operating illegally and covertly on behalf of a foreign government has consequences," CBS News reported.
Rivera's attorneys argued at sentencing that the $50 million contract covered commercial work exempt from FARA because it was signed with a U.S. subsidiary, not the Venezuelan government directly, the New York Post reported. Defense attorney Ed Shohat told the court that if Rivera had filed the registration form, "everything he did, including the $50 million contract, which totally distorted this case, is perfectly legal." Judge Damian rejected that. "There's no dispute this money came from the Maduro regime," she said, according to the BBC.
Rivera had built his political identity in South Florida's Cuban exile community on anti-communist credentials, and prosecutors argued that is precisely why he kept the arrangement secret: disclosure would have ended his career, CBS News reported. Rubio, now Secretary of State and Rivera's former Tallahassee housemate, testified he knew nothing of the lobbying contract. Rivera's attorneys plan to appeal and applied for a presidential pardon in June, the New York Post reported. He also faces additional federal charges in Washington, D.C.
A man who built a career opposing one regime spent two years secretly serving it.
FryskTsien jier. Dat is de straf dy't federaal rjochter Melissa Damian David Rivera, 61, freed oplei, neidat in federale sjuery de eardere Floridaske Republikeinske kongreslid feroardiele hie fanwegen it yn it geheim lobbyen foar de regearing fan Nicolás Maduro, wylst er iepentlik himsels as in antikommunistyske kriger posearret.
De saak draaide om in kontrakt fan $50 miljoen, neffens it Departement fan Justysje, dat Rivera en meiferdachte Esther Nuhfer sletten hiene mei PDV USA, in op New York basearre affiliate fan Fenesuêla's steatsoliebedriuw PDVSA. Rivera stie bleat oan in maksimum fan 60 jier federale finzenisstraf en in mooglike ferfealing fan eigendom fan $20 miljoen, neffens CBS News. Hy sil boppedat eigendom yn Doral en de Florida Keys ferlieze.
In federale sjuery yn Miami feroardiele Rivera yn maaie op alle punten nei in proses fan sân wiken, befêstige it DOJ. De oanklachten omfette konspiraasje om de Foreign Agents Registration Act te skenden, konspiraasje om jildwaskerij te begean, en fjouwer punten yn ferbân mei transaksjes mei krimineel ferkregen eigendom. Meiferdachte Nuhfer waard ek op alle punten skuldich befûn.
Oanklagers bewearren dat Rivera en Nuhfer fan 2017 oant 2018 wurken om it Amerikaanske belied tsjinoer Fenesuêla te fersachtsjen sûnder harren te registrearjen as bûtenlânske agenten, neffens CBS News. Se lobbyden by doe-tiidske senator Marco Rubio en Texas-fertsjintwurdiger Pete Sessions, en regelen gearkomsten foar doe-tiidske bûtenlandsminister Delcy Rodríguez yn New York, Caracas, Washington en Dallas. Sessions stimde letter yn om in brief fan Maduro oan presidint Donald Trump te oerlangjen nei in geheim petear yn Caracas, neffens CBS News.
Om de regeling te ferbergjen, sette Rivera in kodearre chatgroep op mei de namme 'MIA' mei Fenesuêlaanske mediamagnaat Raúl Gorrín, syn wichtichste tuskenpersoan nei de Maduro-regearing, neffens de New York Post. Leden brûkten skûlnammen: Maduro wie de 'busbestjoerder,' Sessions 'Sombrero,' Rodríguez 'The Lady in Red,' en Rubio 'Miss Clairol' (rubio betsjut blond yn it Spaansk). Betelingen waarden oantsjut as 'La Luz,' it Spaanske wurd foar 'the light.' It DOJ sei dat Rivera $1,5 miljoen fan it kontrakt tusken maart 2017 en augustus 2018 op syn kampanjerekken stoartte. In bankoerskriuwing fan $3,75 miljoen gie nei in Súdfloridaske bedriuw dat it lúkse jacht fan Gorrín ûnderhâlde, neffens CBS News.
Federaal oanklager Jason A. Reding Quiñones sei dat Rivera "syn reputaasje ferkocht oan kommunisten om syn gierichheid te fieden," neffens CBS News. "Dit wie net in lytse papierlike oertreding, of in ienfâldige flater," sei Quiñones. FBI Spesjaal Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles sei dat de straf bewiisde dat "yllegaal en yn it geheim operearjen namens in bûtenlânsk regear gefolgen hat," neffens CBS News.
Rivera syn advokaten bewearren by de sentinsje dat it kontrakt fan $50 miljoen kommersjeel wurk dekte dat útsûndere wie fan FARA om't it tekene wie mei in Amerikaanske dochterûndernimming, net mei de Fenesuêlaanske regearing direkt, neffens de New York Post. Definsjeadvokaat Ed Shohat fertelde de rjochtbank dat as Rivera it registraasjeformulier ynfolle hie, "alles wat er die, ynklusyf it kontrakt fan $50 miljoen, dat dizze saak folslein ferfoarme hat, folslein legaal is." Rjochter Damian wiigere dat. "Der is gjin twifel dat dit jild út it Maduro-rezjym kaam," sei se, neffens de BBC.
Rivera hie syn politike identiteit yn de Súdfloridaske Kubaanske ballingemienskip opboud as in fêste antikommunist, en oanklagers bewearren dat dat krekt de reden wie wêrom't er de regeling geheim hâlde: iepenbiering soe syn karriêre beëindige hawwe, neffens CBS News. Rubio, no Steatssekretaris en Rivera syn eardere húsgenoat yn Tallahassee, tsjûge dat er neat wist fan it lobbykontrakt. Rivera syn advokaten binne fan doel om yn berop te gean en hienen yn juny in oanfraach foar in presidinsjeel begenadiging yntsjinne, neffens de New York Post. Hy stiet ek foar oanfoljende federale oanklachten yn Washington, D.C.
In man dy't syn karriêre boude op tsjinstân tsjin ien rezjym, tsjinne it twa jier yn it geheim.
Published October 4, 2026 · Frisian News