MIAMI– A Venezuelan businessman who helped conceal nearly $17 million in bribes from an ally of President Nicolas Maduro was sentenced to six months in prison Friday by a federal judge who expressed frustration that his cooperation with law enforcement was being undone by President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of a top US criminal target.
Orlando Contreras had been working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration since 2019 to investigate corruption in the South American country.
As part of that assistance, prosecutors said, he made several dangerous trips to Venezuela to gather evidence against businessman Alex Saab and former Gov. Jose Vielma.
Saab and Vielma were both targets of a secret spy program exposed by The Associated Press, in which the DEA sent undercover informants to Venezuela to secretly record and criminally indict Maduro’s inner circle.
Both men were later charged in separate corruption cases. But while Vielma remains a fugitive, the U.S. released Saab in December as part of a trade for 10 Americans and a Pentagon defense contractor imprisoned in Venezuela.
U.S. District Court Judge Rodolfo Ruiz said he was convinced to grant Contreras even more leniency than the government recommended because of the risks he took in pursuit of Saab — once a top criminal but now someone who, entrenched in Venezuela, is likely will never face justice in the US again.
“Everyone left town,” Ruiz said, “and he’s the only one who decided to stay and face justice.”
Saab, 52, was welcomed as a hero by Maduro in December and immediately launched a tirade against the US, claiming he had been tortured while awaiting extradition from Cape Verde in an attempt to make him turn against Maduro.
His release was seen as a major concession to Maduro as the Biden administration seeks to improve relations with the OPEC nation and pave the way for freer elections. That goal appears more elusive than ever as Maduro refuses to lift a ban on his main rival, Maria Corina Machado, from holding public office and recently arrests opponents.
Contreras admitted last year when he pleaded guilty to receiving nearly $17 million between 2016 and 2019 to facilitate bribes in exchange for $1.6 billion in government contracts awarded to Saab and a partner to provide medicines and food boxes to import at a time of widespread world hunger. country. As part of the alleged scheme, the co-conspirators increased the prices of basic products charged to the Venezuelan government, using the additional amount to pay kickbacks to officials.
Contreras said he acted as an intermediary for Vielma, transferring about $11 million to offshore accounts at the then-governor’s direction. He kept the remaining amount for himself, but he now forfeits it to the American government. So far, he has handed over $650,000 and two luxury watches and is in the process of liquidating another $100,000, his lawyers said in court Friday.
“The government wants to punish one of the few people who actually cooperated, while the target receives no punishment and receives high praise in Venezuela,” said one of Contreras’ lawyers, Martin Steinberg, in a plea for an even lighter sentence of house arrest .
Contreras broke down in tears as he recounted two grueling kidnapping episodes in Venezuela, during which he said he was beaten and sexually abused — wounds that he said would reopen if he were locked up.
“I fear every day that it could happen to me again,” he told the judge.
However, Ruiz said at least some prison time was warranted to deter others from participating in such sophisticated foreign corruption schemes.
Lawyers for Contreras describe his cooperation as “extraordinary,” spanning more than four years and involving DEA-directed phone calls to targets and at least two risky trips to Venezuela to advance U.S. criminal investigations.
The full extent of his cooperation is unknown, however, as both the prosecutor’s report and a 76-page sentencing memorandum filed by Contreras’ attorneys remain under seal.
“It is fair to say that the supporting information he provided was very helpful,” federal prosecutor Alexander Kramer said in court Friday. “He traveled to Venezuela to try to cooperate on his own accord. The government did not ask for this.”
