Former Miami congressman David Rivera, a longtime ally of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Friday for a clandestine $50 million lobbying effort on behalf of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the early Trump administration.
Rivera, a 61‑year‑old Republican, was convicted on all counts in a May jury trial, including failure to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors said Rivera and co‑defendant Esther Nuhfer used a secret encrypted chat called MIA to coordinate with Venezuelan media mogul Raúl Gorrín, a figure later indicted in the U.S. for bribery. Texts revealed coded names for key figures—“bus driver” for Maduro, “Sombrero” for Rep. Pete Sessions, and “The Lady in Red” for Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez—alongside references to a $3.75 million transfer to a South Florida firm that maintained Gorrín’s yacht.
Judge Melissa Damian admonished Rivera for abandoning his anti‑communist principles, noting that the money clearly originated from the Maduro regime. She described the case as a classic money‑laundering scheme and rejected Rivera’s motion to reduce the federal sentencing range. Testimony from former Trump administration officials, including Rubio and Sessions, highlighted the betrayal felt when Rivera’s consulting arrangement with PDVSA’s U.S. affiliate was uncovered.
Rivera’s defense argued that the $50 million contract was a legitimate commercial effort to bring ExxonMobil back to Venezuela and that he was not required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He has filed a request for a presidential pardon and intends to appeal the sentence. Rivera also faces additional federal counts in Washington, D.C., related to other foreign lobbying matters.
