Top lawyer for Venezuela’s state oil company sentenced to three years for racket tied to Miami

MIAMI — A former general counsel of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company apologized profusely Monday for accepting more than $11 million million in bribes for his supporting role in a government-embezzlement racket and money-laundering scheme extending from his homeland to South Florida to Europe. Alvaro Ledo Nass, a lawyer who also served as secretary of PDVSA’s board of directors, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay back the bribery money to the U.S. government as part of his punishment imposed by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. He was also fined $7,500. The judge...