Tag: david rivera
Former Rep. David Rivera’s Ally Sentenced To 6 Months Of House Arrest

Former Rep. David Rivera’s Ally Sentenced To 6 Months Of House Arrest

By Marc Caputo, The Miami Herald

MIAMI — The federal investigation into former Congressman David Rivera took another major step Wednesday when his close friend and political ally was sentenced for her role in allegedly helping him break campaign finance laws.

“I took responsibility,” Ana Alliegro said in court before she was sentenced to six months of house arrest and two years of probation after serving six months in jail.

“I owe the voters of Florida … a huge apology,” she said.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola indicated he would have sentenced Alliegro to more time in prison — at least 18 months total and as much as five years — if she had gone “rogue” and not coordinated with Rivera.

Scola suggested Rivera wasn’t acting like a man.

“Some might call it sexism, (but) the man should come forward and not let the woman do time,” Scola said.

Scola pointedly insisted that Rivera be named in open court.

Alliegro last month made a surprise admission of guilt in open court and named Rivera as the mastermind of the 2012 scheme to steer more than $81,000 to a political unknown to help fund fliers and other items to campaign against the Republican’s rival, current U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia.

“Those fliers were designed by Ana Alliegro (and) David Rivera,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Mulvihill said in court, implicitly citing prior statements Alliegro had made to prosecutors. Before that disclosure in court, Rivera had denied wrongdoing and falsely claimed he was never under investigation. Rivera couldn’t be reached.

Court records and testimony indicate that Alliegro has told authorities that Rivera not only set the conspiracy in motion, but he also helped her flee the United States to Nicaragua when she was supposed to cooperate with prosecutors instead.

Alliegro was informally extradited to the United States in March and has been in jail ever since.

Her father, Anselmo Alliegro, said Rivera has been calling him. But, he said, Rivera needs to take responsibility.

“He says he’s concerned about her well-being,” Alliegro said of Rivera’s calls to him.

Alliegro is the second person convicted in the case. Her co-conspirator, no-name former Democratic candidate Justin Lamar Sternad, pleaded guilty in 2013 for accepting the illegal campaign contributions and making false statements about them when he ran as a Democrat in the 2012 primary against Garcia and others.

Garcia won that race and went on to wallop the scandal-plagued Rivera in the general election. In this election, however, federal investigators are now examining whether Garcia’s former top consultant and chief of staff, Jeffrey Garcia (no relation to the congressman), helped prop up yet another ringer candidate two years before in what appears to be a precursor to Sternad’s case.

Garcia has denied wrongdoing or knowledge of the crime and said he’d cooperate with prosecutors, and no witnesses have said he’s culpable — a stark contrast to Rivera’s case in which two campaign vendors told The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald that the Republican was involved in the 2012 campaign finance scheme from the start.

Rivera tried to mount a comeback to run against Garcia this year. But the onetime political power broker, nagged by scandal and his repeated misstatements reported in the press, came in fourth place in a five-way GOP primary on Aug. 26.

Rivera received just 2,209 votes — which is 647 less than the no-name Sternad received just two years before when his campaign was propped up by illegal money.

Photo via WikiCommons

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Former Representative Running For Old Seat Named Co-Conspirator In Campaign Finance Case

Former Representative Running For Old Seat Named Co-Conspirator In Campaign Finance Case

By Marc Caputo, Jay Weaver, and Patricia Mazzei, The Miami Herald

MIAMI — Miami congressional candidate and ex-U.S. Rep. David Rivera was officially named as a co-conspirator Tuesday in federal court when his friend and confederate pleaded guilty to criminal campaign finance violations.

That defendant, Ana Alliegro, didn’t name Rivera — that was done by a federal prosecutor at the urging of a judge who wanted to know the identity of a man previously identified only as a “co-conspirator.” According to prosecutors that person, along with Alliegro, secretly funded the 2012 Democratic primary campaign of ringer candidate Justin Lamar Sternad, who has been sentenced to seven months in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Mulvihill initially declined to name Rivera, but then did so at the direction of U.S. District Judge Robert Scola.

Alliegro’s trial had been scheduled to start Monday — a day before the Republican primary election for Florida’s 26th congressional district. Rivera, one of five candidates on the ballot, is running for his old seat.

In a surprise move, Alliegro, who had pleaded not guilty to four charges in March, used a pre-trial court appearance Tuesday to switch her plea to guilty.

“She always said she would not invoke the Fifth Amendment, and that she would tell the truth,” said Alliegro’s defense attorney, Richard Klugh. “And she intends to do that if called (upon).”

There was no plea agreement struck with prosecutors, Klugh added, saying Alliegro chose to change her plea of her own volition. She pleaded guilty to four counts of making a false statement, conspiring and making illegal campaign contributions.

She faces a maximum five years in prison, though that penalty would likely be lower if she cooperated in the case against Rivera. Her sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 10.

“The federal system rewards and recognizes the importance of responsibility and telling the truth,” Klugh said.

When asked if his client was used by Rivera in the campaign finance scheme, Klugh chucked nervously but didn’t answer the question.

Photo via WikiCommons

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