MIAMI – Right before the deadline, former Rep. David Rivera filed to run in the open Florida House of Representatives District 119 race.
The Miami Herald reported he diverted $13 million to a convicted drug trafficker and that he was fined $456,000 for propping up a ringer candidate.
Rivera disputed the reports despite being identified in court as “the unindicted co-conspirator” in the ringer candidate’s case.
“Forget about the fake news,” the Cuban-American Republican said.
Rivera, a longtime ally of Sen. Marco Rubio, also denied having anything to do with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned company.
“The contract for an affiliate of Citgo here in the United States was for $50 million, which represents to them, you know a company that is a multibillion-dollar corporation and does these kinds of, you know, million-dollar contracts routinely over the last several decades, had nothing to do with PDVSA,” he said.
Rivera served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2010 to 2012. The Florida Division of Elections did not include him on the ballot for the District 119 race.
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Local10.com archives
- Feb. 13, 2013: Candidate linked to David Rivera indicted
- Oct. 25, 2012: US Rep David Rivera denies ethics violations
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