The FARA violation penalty is up to five years in federal prison for willfully acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal, or for willfully making material false statements in filings, under 22 U.S.C. § 618. The statute's text sets a fine of up to $10,000, while DOJ states up to $250,000. Paired money laundering counts can push exposure much higher.
That last point is what happened in Miami this week. On Oct. 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian sentenced former Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) to 10 years in federal prison, according to the Associated Press. His co-defendant, political consultant Esther Nuhfer, received five years. A registration charge on its own tops out at five. The other five years of Rivera's sentence came from the money laundering law, which treats fees from a willful FARA violation as dirty money.
If you or someone you know has been contacted by federal investigators about work for a foreign client, this case shows how these prosecutions are built and where the defense fights happen.
The case in brief
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Court: U.S. District Court, Miami (Judge Melissa Damian)
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Defendants: Former Rep. David Rivera and political consultant Esther Nuhfer
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Charges: An 11-count indictment, per PBS NewsHour/AP, including failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering
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Verdict: Guilty on all counts, Friday, May 1, 2026
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Sentence: 10 years for Rivera, five years for Nuhfer (Oct. 2, 2026; also reported by CBS Miami)
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Still open: A $20 million forfeiture request, a pardon application and a planned appeal
The case grew out of a three-month, $50 million consulting contract in 2017 and 2018 with PDV USA, the U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA. AP describes PDV USA as based in New York. Prosecutors argued the contract was cover for illegal lobbying, and that the defendants backdated documents and created sham agreements, including one to justify a $3.75 million wire transfer for upkeep of Venezuelan businessman Raúl Gorrín's yacht. AP reports Rivera has been held without bond since the May verdict.
What FARA requires
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a disclosure law. It does not ban working for foreign governments or companies. It bans doing certain kinds of that work without telling the Justice Department first.
The core rule is in 22 U.S.C. § 612(a): "No person shall act as an agent of a foreign principal unless he has filed with the Attorney General a true and complete registration statement." Anyone who becomes an agent must file "within ten days thereafter."
Who counts as an agent? According to the DOJ's FARA FAQ, you must register if, acting for a foreign principal, you do any of the following:
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Engage in political activities in the United States
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Act as public relations counsel, publicity agent or political consultant
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Collect or pay out money for the principal
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Represent the principal's interests before U.S. officials
The list is broad. A consultant who arranges meetings with members of Congress for a foreign client can fall inside it even if no single meeting involves a formal "lobbying" pitch.
The exemptions defendants rely on
Two exemptions come up most often in these cases.
The commercial exemption. 22 U.S.C. § 613(d) exempts people engaged only "in private and nonpolitical activities in furtherance of the bona fide trade or commerce" of the foreign principal. Ordinary business work for a foreign company, without a political component, generally does not require FARA registration.
The lobbying disclosure exemption. Section 613(h) exempts lobbyists registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. But the DOJ FAQ makes clear that this exemption does not apply when the client is a foreign government or a foreign political party. Lobbyists for those clients must register under FARA.
Rivera's defense leaned on the commercial exemption. His lawyers argued the work was purely commercial, aimed at getting ExxonMobil back into Venezuela, and that his meetings with U.S. officials happened after the contract ended, per PBS/AP. They also said the defendants acted in good faith and believed no disclosure was required. "He was working every possible angle to get Nicolás Maduro out," defense attorney Ed Shohat told jurors.
Prosecutors told a different story. "As long as the money kept coming in, they didn't care from where," prosecutor Roger Cruz said in closing. The jury sided with the government.
When unregistered work becomes a crime: willfulness
Not every missed FARA filing is a crime. Under 22 U.S.C. § 618(a), the government must prove the person acted "willfully," either in violating the act or in making material false statements or omissions in a filing.
That is the central fight in most criminal FARA cases. A defendant who believed, in good faith, that the work was exempt commercial activity has a willfulness defense. The government, in turn, often points to concealment: code names, backdated paperwork, side agreements. In Rivera's case, AP reported that encrypted chats used code names, including "bus driver" for Maduro. Evidence like that is typically offered to show the defendant knew the work needed to be hidden, and that it was not an honest mistake about the rules.
At sentencing, Shohat framed the conduct as a paperwork lapse: "If he had filed that paper, that form, everything he did...is perfectly legal," he said, as quoted by News4Jax/AP. That argument captures how FARA works: the same activity can be lawful or criminal depending on registration and intent.
The penalty for FARA alone
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Prison: Up to five years under § 618(a)
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Fine: The statute's text says up to $10,000. DOJ's FARA FAQ states criminal penalties as up to five years and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
The statute of limitations problem
Section 618(e) provides that failing to file a required registration "shall be considered a continuing offense for as long as such failure exists, notwithstanding any statute of limitation." In practical terms, someone who never registered cannot count on the clock running out simply because the underlying work happened years ago. As long as the failure to file continues, the offense continues.
The civil alternative
FARA can also be enforced without criminal charges. Per the DOJ FAQ, the Attorney General can go to court for an injunction requiring a person to register or to fix a deficient filing. That route is about compliance, not prison.
Why money laundering counts come paired with FARA
This is the part of the law that turned a five-year cap into a 10-year sentence.
Federal money laundering law only applies to proceeds of "specified unlawful activity." 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7)(D) puts "any felony violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938" on that list. So once prosecutors can show a willful FARA violation, the fees paid for the unregistered work can be treated as criminally derived property.
That opens up three separate charging tools:
| Statute | What it covers | Maximum prison term | | --- | --- | --- | | 22 U.S.C. § 618 | Willful FARA violation | 5 years | | 18 U.S.C. § 1957 | Knowingly engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property "of a value greater than $10,000" | 10 years per offense | | 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) | Laundering of monetary instruments | 20 years, plus a fine up to $500,000 or twice the value of the property, whichever is greater | | 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) | Conspiracy to commit a § 1956 or § 1957 offense | Same as the offense that was the object of the conspiracy |
The § 1957 piece matters most for people who were paid well. Each transaction over $10,000 in the tainted money can be its own count, with its own 10-year maximum. A consultant who moved fees through several accounts or paid subcontractors can face a stack of charges from a single contract.
How added counts push sentences up
Statutory maximums set the ceiling. The federal sentencing guidelines shape where a sentence actually lands. When the U.S. Sentencing Commission consolidated the money laundering guideline in 2001 through Amendment 634, it set up this basic structure for §2S1.1:
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The base offense level is either the level for the underlying offense, or level 8 plus an increase tied to the value of the laundered funds.
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A § 1957 conviction adds 1 level.
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A § 1956 conviction adds 2 levels.
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Sophisticated laundering, such as the use of shell companies or offshore accounts, adds 2 more.
Under that structure, the dollar amount drives much of the calculation. In a case built on a $50 million contract, the value of funds alone can move the guideline range sharply upward, before any enhancement is applied. Judge Damian addressed the source of the money directly at sentencing: "There's no dispute this money came from the Maduro regime."
What is still open in Rivera's case
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Forfeiture: The government has asked that Rivera forfeit $20 million in criminal proceeds. The court has not ruled.
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Pardon: His lawyers applied for a presidential pardon in June, per News4Jax.
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Appeal: AP reports the defense plans to appeal. The willfulness finding and the scope of the commercial exemption are the issues defendants typically press in these appeals.
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Separate D.C. case: NBC News reported that Rivera was indicted in Washington on Dec. 17, 2024, on FARA and money laundering charges. That indictment says he acted as an agent of Raúl Gorrín in 2019 and 2020, tried to lobby senior U.S. officials to get Gorrín removed from a sanctions list, and used shell companies.
At sentencing, Cruz told the court: "The United States and the public were the true victims of this fraud."
The enforcement climate has shifted
Rivera was first charged in 2022. Since then, DOJ policy has changed. In February 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo saying criminal FARA charges would be "limited to instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors," and directing the FARA Unit to "focus on civil enforcement, regulatory initiatives, and public guidance," according to Covington & Burling. Covington describes this as a move away from the department's post-Mueller emphasis on criminal FARA enforcement.
What that means for someone under investigation now:
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For new matters, exposure may be more likely to center on civil enforcement and getting a registration on file.
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This is internal policy, not a change in the statute. The criminal provisions of § 618 and the money laundering link in § 1956 remain law, and the policy can change again.
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Cases already filed can still go forward, as Rivera's did.
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Conduct the government views as espionage-like remains a criminal priority under the memo's own terms.
If investigators contact you about foreign client work
These are the procedural questions that tend to decide outcomes:
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Was the work political or commercial? The § 613(d) exemption covers only private, nonpolitical activity in furtherance of bona fide trade or commerce. Meetings with officials, PR work and political consulting can take you outside it.
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Who was the real client? The lobbying disclosure exemption does not cover work for a foreign government or foreign political party, even if the paperwork names a company.
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What does the record show about intent? Willfulness is the line between a civil compliance problem and a felony. Emails, chats and contract drafts will be read for signs of concealment.
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How did the money move? Each transaction over $10,000 in fees from a willful violation can become a separate § 1957 count. Exposure grows with each one.
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Is a civil resolution available? DOJ can seek court orders requiring registration or corrected filings. Whether that path is open depends on the facts and on current enforcement policy.
Do not try to work through those questions alone or in conversations with agents. Talk to a defense attorney with FARA and federal white collar experience before answering questions or filing anything with DOJ. A late or corrected filing made without counsel can create new problems, including the false-statement exposure in § 618(a).
Related reading
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Inside an Embezzlement Case, From the Employer's Audit to Restitution
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How Families Can Challenge a Gang Label Before It Follows a Teen to Court
Sources
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News4Jax/AP: Former GOP Rep. David Rivera sentenced to 10 years for secret Venezuela lobbying
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PBS NewsHour/AP: Former congressman David Rivera convicted in case on secret Venezuela lobbying
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CBS Miami: Former Florida congressman David Rivera sentenced to 10 years in Venezuela lobbying case
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NBC News: Former Florida Rep. David Rivera indicted on foreign agent charges
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Covington & Burling: Attorney General Issues Memorandum Regarding FARA Criminal Enforcement
Note: This article contains AI-assisted content and has been reviewed by our editorial team.
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