Drug Dealer’s Donation Returned

Already under fire from Republicans for accepting big contributions linked to foreign interests, the Democratic National Committee has returned a $20,000 political contribution from a convicted Miami cocaine smuggler.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe said Saturday that the party was unaware until last week that the contributor, Jorge Cabrera, had been arrested after making the donation and is in prison serving a 19-year sentence.

“We never accept money that’s been gotten illegally,” Tobe said. “Obviously, we had no idea that Mr. Cabrera was a drug trafficker.”

Federal election records show Cabrera made the contribution to the Democrats in late November 1995, and was soon invited to a political reception attended by Vice President Gore in Miami and a pre-Christmas event at the White House.

In January 1996, Cabrera and several accomplices were arrested in a Miami bust that netted nearly 6,000 pounds of cocaine, among other things. Cabrera had previously been arrested twice on drug charges, and pleaded guilty to non-drug-related charges in both cases.