Busted in Nicaragua: ex-Rep. David Rivera's pal, Ana Alliegro, in FBI custody over campaign scheme

[Judi Lynn]

Busted in Nicaragua: ex-Rep. David Rivera's pal, Ana Alliegro, in FBI custody over campaign scheme
Posted on Saturday, 03.08.14

By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei

[e-mail]


Ana Alliegro, the gal pal of former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, was arrested and informally extradited Friday from Nicaragua to Miami, where a federal grand jury charged her in a four-count indictment for her alleged role in a campaign-finance scheme tied to the one-time congressman.

She will be locked up in a federal detention center until her first court appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick White.

Alliegro had fled to Nicaragua in 2012 as the FBI began investigating her and Rivera in a scheme to steer and conceal $82,000 in illegal campaign contributions to a no-name congressional candidate, who appeared to be doing Rivera’s political dirty work. That candidate, Justin Lamar Sternad, subsequently pleaded guilty to breaking federal campaign-finance laws and lying about it.

Now, the 44-year-old Alliegro faces charges of helping Sternad make false statements on his campaign reports and of making illegal contributions well in excess of federal campaign limits. If convicted, she faces up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.

Rivera has not been charged. Neither Alliegro nor Rivera, who have long denied wrongdoing, could be reached for comment.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/07/3980530/busted-in-nicaragua-ex-rep-david.html#storylink=cpy

[Judi Lynn]

1. Bonus news: Same state, more GOP corruption, different people.

Posted on Friday, 03.07.14
Named partner in Rothstein’s law firm charged with breaking election campaign laws
By Jay Weaver
[e-mail]

Attorney Russell Adler, a top partner in Scott Rothstein's disgraced Fort Lauderdale law firm, was charged Friday with breaking federal election laws by illegally bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the campaigns of GOP presidential nominee John McCain and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist, Florida's former Republican governor.

In a single conspiracy charge, Adler is accused of collaborating with Rothstein and other firm employees to donate the unlawfully bundled donations in 2008 and 2009. Adler and other unnamed co-conspirators at the firm are accused of receiving salary bonuses as reimbursement for those personal expenses.

In 2010, after Rothstein’s arrest on racketeering charges stemming from his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, Crist returned the contributions from the law firm and partners. The McCain campaign, however, had already distributed the donations to political action committees in battleground states.

The conspiracy charge filed against Adler, which carries a maximum five-year sentence, is designed as a plea deal that paves the way for the attorney to plead guilty. It avoids a potential racketeering indictment posing the risk of a much longer prison term if he were convicted at trial.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/07/3981107/named-partner-in-rothsteins-law.html#storylink=cpy

[flamingdem]

2. Oh my goodness!

Ana is going back to Miami. I thought this story wouldn't go anywhere so that's good news. Thanks!

[Judi Lynn]

3. I posted an earlier one overnight in the LA forum, and LBN:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110827513

I merged them both in LBN, and deleted the original one there, to make sure that any readers would get all the info. in one thread, then I neglected to do it here.

As soon as I saw her name, I remembered the posts you had put up here when things started getting crazy concerning Ana on this weird campaign material, and from what I've seen, this is only a LITTLE of the truly weird stuff.

What a strange person this one is!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Interested in hearing more about Ana Alliegro, former Miami tv news woman & Republican operative?

Here's another, from the Miami Herald:

David Rivera Witness Back In The U.S., Talking To Feds
By Marc Caputo
[e-mail]



Ana Alliegro, a central player in a federal elections investigation of former Congressman David Rivera, returned from self-imposed exile in Nicaragua and is talking with authorities, the Miami Herald has learned.

A gal pal of Rivera’s, Alliegro and the former Miami Republican representative have been under FBI scrutiny ever since she helped run the law-breaking campaign of Democrat Justin Lamar Sternad in 2012.

Sternad pleaded guilty this year to federal charges of accepting $81,486 in illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy and making a false statement.

Some of that illegal money — allegedly handled in cash by Alliegro — was used by Sternad to bash a rival of Rivera’s, Joe Garcia. He went on to beat Sternad in the primary and then the Republican in the general election.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/23/3707133/ana-alliegro-mystery-woman-in.html#storylink=cpy

More information, gathered by the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/ana-alliegro

[Judi Lynn]

5. Ana Alliegro Pleads Not Guilty in Federal Court in South Florida After Nicaragua Arrest

Ana Alliegro Pleads Not Guilty in Federal Court in South Florida After Nicaragua Arrest
By Steve Litz and Brian Hamacher
| Monday, Mar 10, 2014 | Updated 11:48 PM EDT

A woman who was brought back to South Florida after she fled to Nicaragua as she was being investigated for a campaign finance scheme pleaded not guilty to federal charges in her first court appearance Monday.

Ana Alliegro, 44, wore shackles and a prison outfit during the 1:30 p.m. hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick White.

Alliegro did not ask for bond.

”Sometimes there’s positions where it doesn't behoove your client to go forward and make that argument at this time,” said her attorney, Mauricio Padilla.

Alliegro, who was supported by her mother in court, will remain in federal custody until her next court date, which hasn't been set.

Alliegro was arrested in Nicaragua and brought back to South Florida Friday after she was previously indicted for violating the Federal Election Campaign Act in connection with a Democratic primary for Florida's 26th Congressional District, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer and FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro announced last week.

More:
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Ana-Alliegro-Due-in-Federal-Court-in-South-Florida-After-Nicaragua-Arrest-249303471.html