Ana Alliegro, the former David Rivera campaign manager and "Conservative Bad Girl" currently serving six months house arrest for her part in a fake candidate scheme, posted a long statement on her Facebook page. While admitting that some of her actions "were wrong and illegal," she also excoriates Rivera's former opponent: incumbent Democratic congressman Joe Garcia.
Garcia's former campaign manager is now at the center of an investigation for propping up a phony Republican candidate in 2010, much as Alliegro did in the Democratic primary. "It is clear to me and others that I was prosecuted for the same exact actions in which current Congressman Joe Garcia's campaign was engaged a whole two years prior; the illegal recruitment and financing of a straw candidate in a general election," Alliegro wrote.
Alliegro claims the justice system has targeted her and Rivera while letting Garcia walk.
"And while the prosecution of justice was swift and immediate given the facts of my case, it has been delayed, protracted and, I am now beginning to think, entirely forstalled (sic) given the similar facts of Congressman Joe Garcia's case.
"While this whole experience has been horrifying," Alliegro continued, "it would be more horrifying to wake up in a country where justice is no,longer blind, where all are not treated equall (sic) in our justice system regardless of race, creed, color, part affiliation, and yes - political and economic influence."
Alliegro recently pleaded guilty to criminal campaign finance violations for conspiring to prop up a phony candidate named Justin Lamar Sternad in a 2012 Democratic congressional primary against Garcia.
Sternad has reportedly tied Rivera directly to the scheme and Alliegro has done the same, but Rivera hasn't been criminally charged in the case.
In the race for Florida's 26th Congressional district, which spans from Westchester to Key West, polls have shown a close contest between Garcia and Republican challenger Carlos Curbelo, a District 7 school board member.
The Garcia campaign did not immediately provide a response to Riptide to Alliegro's message.
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