MIAMI.- A federal appeals court has overturned a ruling imposing a possible fine of approximately half a million dollars on former Miami congressman David Rivera for alleged campaign financing violations, according to WLRN.
The long-running case originated during Rivera’s 2012 congressional campaign. Republican Rivera faced off against Democrat Joe Garcia and allegedly provided money to help Justin Sternad, a candidate in the Democratic primary, in order to allegedly undermine his rival’s campaign. Garcia, however, won the primary and defeated Rivera.
The Federal Election Commission alleged in 2017 that Rivera violated a law prohibiting contributions made on behalf of other people.
In the 2021 summary judgment, District Judge Marcia Cooke wrote that Rivera had orchestrated a scheme with his partner, Ana Sol Alliegro, to provide financial support to Sternad’s campaign.
According to Cooke, Alliegro acted as a go-between, passing funds to Sternad and his campaign committee. After pleading guilty in that case, Alliegro was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert A. Scola Jr. to six months of house arrest and two years of probation.
The three-judge 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Cooke had improperly granted summary judgment to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the case.
According to court records, Cooke rejected Rivera’s arguments that Alliegro’s testimony should be thrown out, citing testimony from Sternad and others.
The judge concluded that the evidence showed that Rivera had made illegal contributions to Sternad’s campaign to hurt Joe Garcia’s campaign, using Alliegro and other third parties to make cash payments.
The appeals panel said Cooke failed to adequately consider Rivera’s testimony, saying there were still “issues of fact” to be resolved. The granting of summary judgment had precluded a possible jury trial.
The panel, composed of Judges Charles Wilson, Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa, found that the denials in Rivera’s affidavit were significant and that the district court’s ruling contravened judicial rules stating that summary judgment can only be granted when there is no genuine dispute over material facts.
The panel also dismissed the possibility of imposing a $456,000 fine on Rivera and the case has been reassigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for continuation in a lower court.
In a separate lawsuit, Rivera was arrested in 2022 on charges of money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering, stemming from a $50 million consulting contract signed with the Venezuelan regime.
