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Former US congressman sentenced to 10 years for secretly lobbying for Venezuela · GNN Daily Breaking News

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  Speaker 1: Former United States Congressman David Rivera was sentenced to 10
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  Speaker 1: years in federal prison for operating a covert $ 50 million
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  Speaker 1: lobbying campaign on behalf of the Venezuelan government. United States
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  Speaker 1: District Judge Melissa Damien imposed the decade-long sentence in a
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  Speaker 1: Miami federal courtroom, rejecting defense arguments that Rivera's actions amounted
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  Speaker 1: to a minor administrative failure to register under the Foreign
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  Speaker 1: Agents Registration Act. Rivera, a Republican who represented South Florida
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  Speaker 1: in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, was
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  Speaker 1: convicted earlier this year on federal charges, including conspiracy to
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  Speaker 1: commit money laundering and acting as an unregistered foreign agent
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  Speaker 1: for the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Federal prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: demonstrated during trial that Rivera entered into a lucrative consulting
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  Speaker 1: contract with a United States subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA,
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  Speaker 1: using the agreement as a cover to broker high-level political
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  Speaker 1: access in Washington. Under the illicit agreement, Rivera attempted to
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  Speaker 1: influence senior American officials to ease economic sanctions against the
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  Speaker 1: Venezuelan regime, facilitate a meeting between Venezuelan officials and executives
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  Speaker 1: at major domestic energy corporations, and soften administrative policy toward Caracas.
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  Speaker 1: Court records showed that tens of millions of dollars funneled
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  Speaker 1: through Rivera's consulting firm were laundered through real estate purchases,
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  Speaker 1: political contributions, and luxury personal acquisitions, including a private yacht.
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  Speaker 1: During the sentencing hearing, federal prosecutors urged the court to
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  Speaker 1: deliver a decisive punishment, emphasizing that Rivera leveraged his former
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  Speaker 1: congressional stature and personal relationships with top American policymakers to
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  Speaker 1: betray public trust for financial gain. While defense attorneys pleaded
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  Speaker 1: for leniency citing Rivera's health issues, Judge Damien determined that
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  Speaker 1: a lengthier prison sentence was fully warranted given the severity
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  Speaker 1: of the foreign influence operation. In addition to the 10-year
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  Speaker 1: prison term, the court issued asset forfeiture orders seizing millions
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  Speaker 1: in real estate and financial holdings connected to the scheme,
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  Speaker 1: signaling a firm judicial stance against illegal foreign lobbying activities.