They have attempted to serve him a summons tied to a Federal Election Commission lawsuit since July. | AP Photo David Rivera evades U.S. Marshals

TALLAHASSEE — While former congressman David Rivera runs for the Florida House, he is also running from the U.S. Marshals Service.

The U.S. Marshals have attempted to serve the Miami Republican with a summons tied to a Federal Election Commission lawsuit since July, but have been unable to find him. He's also running for an open 2018 Florida House seat.


“The Commission’s diligent efforts to serve Rivera have been thwarted so far by Rivera’s apparent evasion of service,” wrote FEC attorney Greg Mueller in an Oct. 12 request for more time to serve Rivera. “Rivera is almost certainly aware of this lawsuit.”

U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola approved the extension request on Friday, one day after FEC sought more time. The FEC now has until Dec. 11 to find Rivera.

The FEC is suing him in Miami federal court over an alleged illegal campaign finance scheme that led to two people serving jail time. Under the allegations, Rivera was part of a scheme to funnel campaign contributions to Justin Lamar Sternad, a straw candidate running against Democrat Joe Garcia in the 2012 Democratic primary for the South Florida congressional seat Rivera then held.

The move was designed to weaken Garcia, who would later beat Rivera in the general election. Both Sternad and Ana Alliegro, a GOP operative working with Rivera, did jail time. Rivera was not charged but is now being sued by the FEC over the issue.

The target of multiple federal and state criminal and civil investigations, Rivera has remained a step ahead of the law for years. When it looked as if federal prosecutors might be unwilling to charge him criminally in 2014, Scola forced the U.S. attorney’s office to take the rare step of naming Rivera as a suspect in open court.

From the bench, Scola at one point suggested Rivera was a coward because of the way Alliegro was treated.

“Some people would call it chivalry, some people call it sexism — that the man should come forward and not let the woman do time on his behalf,” Scola said.

In early July, attempts to settle the issue failed, which led the FEC to file a civil complaint on July 14. Five days later, a deputy marshal unsuccessfully attempted to serve Rivera at his Doral home.

“The Deputy Marshal then encountered an individual in the driveway at that address who 'refused to answer questions' regarding Rivera,” the FEC’s extension request said.

Since that time, U.S. Marshals have made four separate attempts to serve Rivera at three separate addresses.

“In the most recent attempts to contact Rivera by phone, on October 4 and 12, 2017, the outgoing voicemail message stated that Rivera was traveling outside the country and unable to return phone calls,” read the FEC’s request.

When POLITICO called Rivera’s cellphone seeking comment for this story, a voice mail indicating it was Rivera’s phone also said he is “out of the country and unable to return calls.”

While he hides from U.S. Marshals, Rivera is also running for House District 105, a seat being left vacant by House budget chief Carlos Trujillo.

Since the FEC first tried to serve Rivera, his campaign has raised $13,000 but has listed no expenditures. A political committee associated with his campaign has not been active. Rivera is listed as the treasurer of both entities, which have been filing regular reports with the Florida Division of Elections.

Rivera has used a total of $300,000 in personal funds to boost his failed 2016 Florida House campaign and his current 2018 effort. That money has been put into his state race as his former congressional committee remains nearly $130,000 in debt.

If Rivera were to win election back to the House, he could have a hefty fine waiting for him. He was hit with a 2010 ethics complaint that alleged he requested taxpayer-funded reimbursements for travel originally paid for by his campaign.

An administrative law judge recommended he repay $57,821 in damages, a decision upheld by a Tallahassee appeals court. Rivera petitioned to have the Florida Supreme Court review the issue, but justices declined to do so.

The fines would have to be imposed by Jose Oliva, a Miami Republican, who will be speaker in 2018. The law requires the speaker to act before any penalties are imposed, but does not require that any actions be taken.

In their quest to collar Rivera, authorities might have been a month late. Just before officials tried to serve him, he was spotted at a June 27 Miami-Dade GOP Lincoln Day dinner. He introduced his old friend on stage: Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump’s adviser.

Marc Caputo contributed to this report.