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

[Disir]

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.

The indictment against Alliegro lists unnamed co-conspirators.

The federal investigation began after the Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald first reported Sternad’s suspicious campaign activity in the Aug. 14, 2012, primary. Sternad, who had little personal wealth and no campaign experience, was spending big on slickly made campaign mailers that attacked fellow Democrat Joe Garcia, a longtime foe of Rivera’s.

Sternad told the Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald and federal authorities at one point that Alliegro ran his Democratic campaign — an odd position for the self-described Republican “bad girl” who was a close associate of the Republican congressman.

Read more here: Busted in Nicaragua: ex-Rep. David Rivera's pal, Ana Alliegro, in FBI custody over campaign scheme - Political Currents - MiamiHerald.com

This is going to be interesting.

 

[natstew]

If he was a Democrat they'd be giving him an award