Former US congressman sentenced to 10 years in prison for secretly lobbying for Venezuela
Prosecutors with the Miami US Attorney's Office said Rivera acted on behalf of a "hostile foreign government" and was paid $20 million by the US subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company.
Former US Congressman David Rivera has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally lobbying US officials to ease pressure on the government of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Rivera, a Republican who represented southern Florida in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, was convicted in May of lobbying US officials on Venezuela's behalf in 2017 without registering as a foreign lobbyist as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
US District Judge Melissa Damian handed down the sentence at a hearing in federal court in Miami, with prosecutors urging a significant term of incarceration. Rivera, 61, pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers argued he was working to help Venezuela's opposition remove Maduro from power, not benefit his government.
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