David Rivera is a free man and running for his old congressional seat that he lost to Democrat Joe Garcia in the last election cycle.
Justin Lamar Sternad, the man many suspect Rivera used as a ringer in the Democratic primary against Garcia, will spend the next seven months behind bars on campaign violation charges.
See also: Justin Lamar Sternad Pleads Guilty, Agrees to Cooperate with David Rivera Investigation
Sternad ran an odd campaign in the District 26 race. He went by his middle name Lamar in a bid some suspect was meant to lead voters to believe he was black. He sent out several direct mail pieces that bashed Garcia, but he never seemed to have a bad word to say about Rivera, the Republican he supposedly would have ultimately wanted to unseat. He was also a political unknown and working the night shift at a hotel front desk.
No one knew where his money was coming from, and eventually the feds came looking around. Sternad admitted that his "de facto" campaign manager was Ana Sol Alliegro, a Republican "bad girl," and close confident of Rivera's.
Campaign vendors told the Miami Herald that Rivera and Alliegro helped steer unreported cash and checks to Sternad's campaign. Alliegro ended up fleeing the country to avoid charges. Rivera so far has not been charged.
Sternad has maintained that was taking advantage of and mislead by Alliegro, and has indicated he's more than willing to testify against both her and Rivera.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
