Judge: David Rivera showed ‘corrupt intent’

David Rivera, former member of the U.S. congress from south Florida, has always looked like a crook, walked like a crook and acted like one. And now there’s a Florida judge who seems to agree.

On June 9, Florida Judge W. David Watkins stated publicly that Rivera showed signs of “corrupt intent” while he served as a Florida lawmaker.

In a Miami Herald report, Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei wrote that Rivera “double-billed taxpayers and his campaign for travel – and also failed to properly file complete financial-disclosure forms for years…”

Caputo and Mazzei added that “Judge W. David Watkins also indicated that he didn’t believe much of the scandal-plagued Rivera’s defense, calling some of his testimony ‘non-credible.’

“In his 37-page recommendation to the Florida Commission on Ethics, Watkins found Rivera violated three state ethics laws, one of them every year between 2005 and 2009, when Rivera appeared to be living off campaign money but failing to report his income properly.

“The judge also suggested evidence had been destroyed, a check had been ‘improperly’ backdated and Rivera had failed to properly report a secret payment from a casino.”

Still, Rivera is free and out of jail.

Last month, Rivera filed to run against Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, who defeated the then-congressman in 2012 amid a federal investigation into the Republican’s role in a campaign-finance scandal. It has resulted in one conviction and the indictment of Rivera’s friend, Ana Alliegro.