Venezuela bribery witness gets light sentence in wake of Biden’s pardoning of Maduro ally

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — A Venezuelan businessman who helped hide almost $17 million in bribe payments by 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 undone by President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of a top U.S. criminal target. Orlando Contreras had been working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since 2019 to investigate corruption in the South American nation. As part of that assistance, he made several dangerous trips to Venezuela to gather evidence against businessman Alex Saab and former Gov. Jose Vielma, who were members of Maduro’s inner circle.