Former Congressman David Rivera sentenced to 10 years in prison for secretly lobbying on behalf of Nicolás Maduro

Former Republican Congressman David Rivera was sentenced this Friday to 10 years in prison for secretly lobbying U.S. government officials on behalf of the Nicolás Maduro regime, according to Reuters.

District Judge Melissa Damian handed down the sentence in federal court in Miami, bringing to a close a legal proceeding that began after he was indicted in 2022.

Rivera, 61, represented South Florida in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. Last May, a jury found him guilty of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by failing to register with the Department of Justice while lobbying on behalf of the Venezuelan dictatorship in 2017.

Million-dollar contracts and operations on behalf of a hostile regime

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami sought a significant prison sentence, arguing that the former lawmaker acted on behalf of a "hostile foreign government."

According to the indictment, Rivera received $20 million from the U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA in an attempt to alleviate pressure from sanctions imposed by Washington on the Chavista leadership.

Rivera's defense team asked the court to spare him imprisonment after he entered a plea of not guilty. The attorneys argued that the former congressman's actions were intended to support the Venezuelan opposition in ousting Maduro from power, ruling out any intention to benefit the regime.

Furthermore, the defense argued that President Donald Trump's administration has deprioritized prosecuting cases under the FARA since he took office in January 2025.

Despite the defense's arguments, the court upheld the seriousness of the violations of transparency and national sovereignty laws, sentencing the former congressman to 10 years' imprisonment.