ABUSE IN A CASE OF ALLEGED VIOLATION OF FEDERAL ELECTION LAW Miami, FL July 1, 2014 – Anselmo L. Alliegro, father of Ana Sol Alliegro, is upset with the treatment of his daughter by U.S. authorities for what he has learned are false accusations in a case he described as a political motivated revenge and abuse of power. According to Anselmo L. Alliegro, on March 3, 2014, the U.S. Government asked the Nicaraguan Communist police to arrest Ana Sol Alliegro, his daughter. Since she had not violated the laws of that country, it was done extra-officially. She was forcibly kidnaped by two men while in the street and briskly thrown in the back of an unmarked car. The experience terrified her. She was then kept incommunicado, dehydrated and deprived of sleep in a cell for four days and three nights. Although there were daily flights to Miami, only after the fourth day, a Friday, was she cuffed, and paraded in front of the local press before being handed over to two FBI agents waiting in the airplane. The two agents kept threatened her and continued questioning her all the way to the FBI North Miami office. Ana arrived dehydrated and hallucinating from lack of sleep. When she was finally taken to the Federal Detention Center in Miami, she was placed in isolation for observation due to her “medical condition.” Two attorneys visited her upon arrival at the detention center and can attest as to her state of mind. For ten days, Ana was not allowed to call her parents. Her arrival on a Friday seemed intentional to delay a hearing before a magistrate until the following Monday. In Nicaragua, Glenda Zavala, Police Spokeswoman, declared the arrest had been made at the request of the U.S. diplomatic delegation in Managua, Nicaragua. According to Zavala, the arrest was authorized by her superiors. In her public statement, Zavala mentioned “extradition” (Source: diariolasamericas/locales/deportan-cubanoamericana-ana-alliegro-nicaragua.html). Among his anti-American speeches, Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, mentioned the arrest and delivery of Ana to the FBI as an example of his cooperation in “matters of national security” (Source: Elnuevodiario.ni). However, Ana was not extradited or deported on a matter of national security, and the only extradition treaty with Nicaragua dates back to July 14, 1907 lists 25 offences subject to extradition, none of which have anything to do with allegations against Ana. Her kidnapping was the irreprehensible actions of the FBI, which does not have extraterritorial arrest power, and U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security personnel. “The government circumvented procedures in a case involving alleged violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act by a Republican,” Ana’s father said. From the beginning, the Miami Herald kept the issue alive in numerous repetitive articles. Ana had traveled to Miami on a previous occasion at the request of the FBI for an interview. In her May 31, 2013 interview with América TeVé, she said that if necessary, she would return voluntarily. The FBI knew her address and telephone number and it was public knowledge she operated a beauty salon in Granada, Nicaragua. Since, she had publicly stated she would return if asked, the manner of her arrest was totally unnecessary. “It was purposely orchestrated to force her cooperation in a political case against a targeted Republican,” Ana’s father continued. According to Ana’s father, “the irresponsible act by our administration led to the mistreatment of a U.S. born American citizen, placing her in peril, having her treated as terrorist, and used as propaganda by a devout enemy of the U.S.” An article in Elnuevodiario.ni notes that President Daniel Ortega went in a week from asserting ... the government of Panama to be a spokesman for interests of the empire, referring to the United States and regarding its position on the situation of violence in Venezuela to deporting ... the Cuban American Ana Sol Alliegro, wanted by the FBI for illegal campaign donations, among other crimes. In the Florida 2012 Democratic Party primaries elections, there were four contenders for U.S. Congress in District 26: Ms. Gloria Romero Roses, Mr. Gustavo Marin, Mr. Joe Garcia, and Mr. Lamar Lamar Sternad. The winner would take on U.S. Congressman David Rivera, the incumbent. At the time, it was noted that Mr. Garcia’s campaign was primarily funded by sources advocating renewing commercial relations with Cuba. Although Cuba faces and embargo, not to be confused with a blockade, they are still able to purchase goods from most countries. In Ana’s father opinion, “what the Cuban government is really after to perpetuate the dictatorship is the credit their failed communist country does not have.” According to local media, it is rumored that Cuba carries out a form of economic warfare by sending “refugees” that upon arrival in the U.S. promptly develop economic and banking wherewithal to defraud entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to later evade prosecution by returning with the ill-gotten booty. Created by the former-KGB, the Cuban Dirección de Inteligencia (DI) may or may not be linked to the fraudulent activity, but the Communist government certainly derives its cut from the now wealthy returning expatriates. It is also important to note that the primary recruitment targets of the KGB were refugee groups, media, social workers, police, and government officials at all levels. The Cuban DI mimics this model. Ana believed that the Democrat Candidate Joe Garcia fitted the profile of a Cuban agent or, at least, bowed to their interest. Although he was the front runner in the Primary Election of August 14, 2012, Ana thought that by volunteering to back Democrat Candidate Lamar Sternad she could disseminate propaganda that would ultimately favor incumbent U.S. Congressman David Rivera in the General Elections. Ana, a political consultant, met Lamar Sternad almost six month after he had registered to run in the election and offered her services as a volunteer with the proviso that she was a Republican and would not be able to help him in the General Elections. Lamar Sternad agreed. As expected, Lamar Sternad lost to Joe Garcia in the primary election and U.S. Congressman Rivera lost the seat to Joe Garcia in the general elections. Now the Florida Congressman for District 26, Garcia is known for promoting unrestricted travel to Cuba, the purchase of Cuban pharmaceuticals by U.S. firms, and has been quoted saying that communism works (Source: The Washington Times, “Fla. Congressman Joe Garcia: Communism works,” May 21, 2014). Lamar Sternad was arrested and pleaded guilty to violations of the Federal Campaign Election Act. He falsified three different FEC reports. On the last report, the one Enrique Yabor, his attorney, helped to draft, Sternad alleged receiving $81,486.15 in over-the-limit campaign contributions from “Ana Alliegro and/or David Rivera.” The revelations about the two came almost a year after Lamar Sternads March 15 guilty plea for accepting illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy, and making false statements on an FEC report (Source: Miami Herald, “David Rivera named by Justin Lamar Sternad in Illegal money scandal,” February 26, 2014). “Though Lamar Sternad was the Treasurer of his own campaign and entirely responsible for accepting, refusing, and reporting contributions, he is now seeking sentence dispensation by blaming others,” Ana’s father commented. According an unconfirmed source, Mr. Lamar Sternad is originally from Omaha, Nebraska, and may have claimed he worked for Gifford & Associates at 2311 Washington Street, Bellevue, Nebraska. If true, this is the address of a 720 square foot shack. On July 6, 2000, Sternad was arrested at 12151 SW 202 Street, Miami, FL, and charged with assault and battery in a domestic violence case. He pleaded nolo contendere. (Source: Miami-Dade Court Clerk, Criminal Records, Case M00038301, July 7, 2000). Today Lamar Sternad rents from Karen Delapenha and Ileana Rodriguez a 2,422 square foot home valued at about $300,000 at 19790 SW 101 Avenue, Cutler Bay, Florida. According to the Miami Herald, Mr. Lamar Sternad worked as an auditor at the Wyndham Garden Hotel of South Beach. Reportedly, his annual salary is less than $36,000. “If true, it is difficult to see how he is able to maintain five children and a wife that does not work unless he has unreported income from other sources,” Ana’s father said. According to Ana’s father, the press painted Ana as the “campaign manager” of Lamar Sternad. However, her work was as an unpaid volunteer. She never agreed to be his manager. In fact, at the time, she was the campaign manager for Enrique Yabor, an attorney running for judge. Later, Yabor appeared as the attorney for Lamar Sternad. “Since Ana did not have the money attributed to the illegal campaign contributions, Assistant United State Attorney Thomas Mulvihill assumed it came from David Rivera. To indict Rivera, however, Mulvihill unleashed the full might of the U.S. Government against Ana. He needed her to finger Rivera,” Ana’s father commented. Early one morning in September 2013, the FBI arrived at Ana’s apartment with the City of Miami Police. The police arrested Ana for a traffic ticket issued for driving with an expired drivers’ license she had forgotten to pay. No doubt the situation was orchestrated by the FBI. Bail was posted, but she remained in custody until the following day because the police claimed they had lost her record. In the interim, the FBI gained access and surveyed the apartment. They later returned with a proper search warren and took possession of her mobile telephone, computer, and documents. “Using the City of Miami Police Department to arrest a person on a traffic citation while at her apartment before daybreak as a ploy to first enter and search the apartment looking for probable cause to later returning with a proper search warrant seems a stretch of the 4th Amendment,” Ana’s father said. When Ana needed an attorney, Yabor introduced her to Mauricio Padilla, a little known attorney that offered to represent her pro bono. However, Yabor never disclosed that Padilla was a Democrat and that he was his relative and business partner. Neither did Yabor disclose that Padilla had been arrested in Miami, in 1993 for carrying a concealed firearm, in 1996 for petit theft; in 1998 for possession of a controlled substance, and in 1999 again for petit theft (Source: information available from FDLE via FOI). Padilla’s record speaks as to his character and formation. According to Ana, Padilla negotiated with the FBI for her to be interviewed in lieu of being summoned by a Grand Jury. In middle of the night, Padilla called her and said that since the warren was for equipment and documents the FBI already had she did not have to appear. The following morning, he contradicted what he had told her the previous night. It was then that Ana decided to take a break and left for Granada, Nicaragua, to visit friends until the media frenzy subsided. At the time, she had not been indicted and there was nothing preventing her from traveling. In mid-October 2013, Padilla asked Ana to return for an interview with the FBI. She arrived voluntarily and answered their questions for two days. According to Ana, Padilla suggested she had immunity and encouraged her to cooperate fully with the FBI. He also suggested she surrendered her passport. Since she had misplaced her original passport, she was traveling on a temporary passport which is the one she volunteered to the FBI expecting it to be returned. This did not happen. PADILLA & YABOR, P.A., incorporated on February 25, 2014. However, PADILLA’s family and business association with YABOR predates the mid-October 2013 interview with the FBI (Florida Division of Corporation Records). According to an August 16, 2013, article in the Miami Herald, “Derek Medina, the South Miami man who allegedly posted to Facebook a grisly photo of his dead wife after shooting her Aug. 8, 2013, had a brief hearing Friday [August 9, 2013] in Miami-Dade County Criminal Court. His attorneys -- Saam Zangeneh, Mauricio Padilla and Rick Yabor -- told Circuit Judge Yvonne Colodny that they would be taking over Medinas defense from the Public Defenders Office.” Nearly four month before PADILLA represented Ana at the FBI mid-October 2013 interrogations, Padilla was already and associate of Rick Yabor. Moreover, Florida Division of Corporation records show Enrique “Rick” YABOR and Mauricio PADILLA sharing the same office at 2200 South Dixie Highway, Suite 704, Miami, as early as February 7, 2011 (Source: Florida Division of Corporation Records). “In October 2013, Padilla represented Ana, and Yabor represented Sternad, the person accusing Ana. If this was not a conflict of interest, it certainly had the appearance of one. At worst, it was an attempt by the FBI to infiltrate the defense team as it has been known to occur. At Yabor’s suggestion, Sternad was ‘cooperating’ with the FBI, and Padilla suggested that Ana join Lamar Sternad to finger Rivera,” Ana’s father believes. Ana had not been indicted or placed under arrest. She was free to travel and had a small business at risk in Nicaragua. She had found the lost passport and used it to return to try and save her business. This passport had all her visas for Nicaragua. Ana had said that, if required, she would return voluntarily upon request as she had previously done. She felt she had done nothing wrong. The FBI had her address and telephone number in Granada, Nicaragua. On October 30, 2013, Ana wrote to Padilla “your services are no longer required. Your association with the lawyer representing Mr. Justin Sternad may be a possible conflict of interest. Regardless, it is a condition that affects my confidence in you as my attorney. Moreover, regarding my traffic citation, you stated all had been resolved when in fact the situation remains the same.” Assistant United States Attorney Thomas J. Mulvihill indicted Ana with four counts: Count 1 – Conspiracy to Commit an Offense against the United States, Count 2 – False Statement, Count 3 - Illegal Campaign Contributions, and Count 4 - Illegal Campaign Contribution (same as Count 3 but cash). Unbeknown to Ana, the indictment was dated February 20, 2014, but remained sealed until March 11, 2014. Hitherto, Ana has been denied bail and remains at the Federal Detention Center in Miami because AUSA Thomas Mulvihill alleges she is a flight risk in spite of taking her passport, having the President of Nicaragua declared her a national security risk, and leaving her destitute and wholly dependent of her family in Miami. Moreover, AUSA Mulvihill insists he has a preponderance of evidence. Ana’s father believes all he really has is the testimony of Lamar Sternad, a convict seeking clemency in his sentence, and evidence that she worked in a political campaign as an unpaid volunteer running errands and given advice to Sternad, the candidate and Treasurer the Federal Election Campaign Law holds responsible for accepting, refusing and reporting contributions. “What occurred to Ana seems tantamount to abuse of power by AUSA Thomas Mulvihill attempting to do whatever it takes to indict former Republican U.S. Congressman David Rivera to gain political favor and promotion in President Obama’s administration,” Ana’s father said. #### CONTACT INFORMATION Anselmo L. Alliegro 305-775-6181 [email protected] Other sources: “Entrevista exclusiva de Ana Alliegro para América Noticias (I Parte)” - América TeVé, May 31, 2013. youtube/watch?v=fd022bf5brE “Deportan a Norteamericana buscada por los EEUU” - NOTICIAS NICARAGUA Canal 51, Mar 7, 2014. youtube/watch?v=giXcJ9pzh8w
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 21:14:08 +0000
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