The FEC accused Rivera in its claim of making approximately $ 55,000 in campaign contributions on behalf of another. Rivera continued to deny any wrongdoing.
The court granted the FEC’s motion for summary judgment on Tuesday, declaring in an order that “the record evidence obviously shows that Rivera was involved in a scheme to illegally fund Sternad’s campaign.”
“And Rivera’s opposition report fails to refute or even address much of that evidence,” says the order.
The FEC asked for a civil fine of $ 456,000, which was granted by the court.
This was not the first time that Rivera, who represented Florida’s 25th Congressional District from January 2011 to January 2013, has been subjected to legal scrutiny. He was also under federal investigation in 2011 for his involvement in a secret consultancy contract that a casino cut with a listed marketing company in the name of its mother, but the case went nowhere.
Elsewhere, the Miami-Dade District Attorney’s Office was preparing to charge Rivera on a 52-count charge of theft, money laundering and extortion arising from the use of public money and contributed money to committees he used for political purposes – before the prosecution was persuaded by Rivera’s lawyers to drop the initiative.
Rivera lost a legal battle in 2016 over his finances as a state legislator, for which he was fined $ 58,000. However, he did not have to pay, since he was no longer a member of the Florida House, which would have to enforce the fine.