Former GOP Rep. David Rivera Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison Over Secret Lobbying Campaign for Venezuelan Government

Former Florida Republican Rep. David Rivera was sentenced Friday to 10 years in federal prison for his undisclosed role in a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign on behalf of the Venezuelan government during the first Trump administration.

Rivera, a longtime friend and former roommate of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has been held in federal custody without bond since May. That month, a Miami jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit money laundering and other crimes tied to the $50 million lobbying scheme.

The lobbying campaign ran from 2017 to 2018 under the regime of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Rivera, who was not serving in the House at the time, and his consultant, Esther Nuhfer, secretly lobbied U.S. lawmakers and members of the first Trump administration on behalf of PDV USA, the U.S. affiliate of Venezuela's state-run oil company.

Following a weeks-long trial, the two were found guilty of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. Rubio, Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions and a top Washington lobbyist all testified during the trial. Each said they had no knowledge of a contract between PDV USA and Rivera's consulting company.
In an 11-page indictment unsealed in 2022, prosecutors alleged that Delcy Rodríguez, who was then Venezuela's foreign minister, recruited Rivera in an effort to persuade the Trump administration to ease sanctions on the country. Rodríguez has served as Venezuela's acting president since the U.S. arrested Maduro in January.

President Trump chose not to relax those restrictions. Instead, he moved to sanction Maduro's government within his first six months in the White House.
According to the indictment, Rivera and Nuhfer signed a contract to receive a total of $50 million through the scheme. The payments were divided into five installments of $5 million each and a single payment of $25 million. Prosecutors said the pair ultimately collected about $20 million after the company ended the contract.

Rivera's legal team argued that the defendants acted in good faith and were not required to disclose their work under FARA. According to The Associated Press, his attorneys applied for a presidential pardon in June and plan to appeal the sentence.

Rivera represented Florida's 25th Congressional District for one term, serving in the House from 2011 to 2013. In 2021, he was fined $456,000 following several state and federal investigations into his role in an improper campaign finance scheme.

Nuhfer was sentenced in August to five years in prison for her role in the illegal lobbying effort, the Miami Herald reported.

The sentencing brings a major chapter of the case to a close, though Rivera's legal fight is not over. With an appeal planned and a pardon application already submitted, the former congressman's attorneys are continuing to push back against the conviction.
The case drew significant attention because of Rivera's personal ties to Rubio and the involvement of the Maduro regime, which sought to change U.S. sanctions policy during Trump's first term. Those efforts ultimately failed, as the Trump administration went in the opposite direction and imposed sanctions on Maduro's government.