Ex-Congressman Rivera wins another fight against feds in bid to hire top lawyer
federal judge has almost cleared the way for former Miami Congressman David Rivera to sell a few real estate properties in Florida so he can hire his top-flight attorney to defend him against charges of illegally working as an unregistered agent for Venezuela, money laundering and tax evasion.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles on Monday upheld a magistrate’s decision saying federal prosecutors exceeded their authority when they placed legal holds on three of Rivera’s properties and two others belonging to a political associate charged with him in late 2022.
Although the five properties were unrelated to the alleged criminal activity, prosecutors put liens on them in Miami-Dade County Court with a plan to seize them if necessary as “substitute assets” upon their convictions at trial.
Gayles affirmed the ruling by Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, saying it was “well-reasoned.” In July, Torres found that prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami could not legally “constrain innocent assets in this manner prior to trial and conviction.”
Torres cited a U.S. Supreme Court case that is from South Florida and blocks prosecutors from freezing a defendant’s substitute assets before trial when they are needed to hire a lawyer, noting “it is the government that stubbornly fails to comprehend” the protection of this law under the Constitution.
Rivera and his defense attorney, Edward Shohat, said they were grateful for Gayles’ decision backing Torres.
“The legal issue decided [Monday] by Judge Gayles is one of national imporA tance,” said Shohat, who has represented numerous high-profile clients during the past 50 years.
“The order of Magistrate Judge Torres, which was upheld, has already been cited favorably by other federal judges both within [the South Florida] district and in other federal districts.”
Rivera, who has still not been arraigned because of his inability to hire Shohat permanently, took a jab at the prosecutors.
“Thank God for fairminded judges who believe in the rule of law,” said Rivera, 58, a Republican. “They’re all America has left protecting against government lawfare and overreach.”
BEACHFRONT CONDO BEING FOUGHT OVER
Despite the twin judicial rulings in his favor, Rivera is still fighting with Assistant U.S. Attorney Harold Schimkat over selling one of his three Florida properties — a valuable oceanfront condo that is in New Smyrna Beach and that the prosecutor claims is traceable to his income from working as an unregistered agent for Venezuela. Shohat said the prosecutor’s position is wrong.
Gayles, the judge, is soon expected to decide on that dispute, which could determine whether Rivera can raise enough money to pay Shohat’s legal fees.
At the same time, Rivera’s co-defendant, Miami political consultant Esther Nuhfer, can sell her two properties in Miami and Marathon in the Florida Keys to hire her attorneys on a permanent basis because prosecutors agreed those assets are not traceable to any criminal activity.
Nuhfer is represented by Miami attorney David O. Markus and partner Margot Moss.