Norristown man, a paroled child rapist, sent back to prison on gun and drug charges

NORRISTOWN — A Norristown man who spent time in prison for rape of a child in Philadelphia was sent back to prison after police and state parole agents found him possessing an illegal handgun and cocaine at his borough apartment.

Danny Christopher Rivas, 33, of the 800 block of West Main Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 1½ to 3 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of person not to possess firearms and possession of cocaine in connection with a March 2023 incident.

Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement Rivas reached with prosecutors.

As a condition of the sentence, the judge ordered Rivas to have no contact with witnesses in the case and to forfeit firearms to the district attorney’s office.

Rivas pleaded guilty just days before his Jan. 22 trial was to begin.

Court records indicate Rivas, who was on state parole at the time of his Norristown arrest, also faces a parole violation hearing before the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole and could be sentenced to additional prison time.

According to court documents, on Oct. 28, 2014, a Philadelphia judge sentenced Rivas to 3½ to 7 years in prison, to be followed by five years’ consecutive probation, on a charge of rape of a child. Rivas was released from prison in November 2018 and his parole supervision commenced.

As a condition of parole, Rivas, who subsequently moved to the Norristown address, was prohibited from possessing firearms and was to abstain from illegal drug activity.

In March 2023, Rivas’ parole agent received information from a witness that Rivas had an argument with a woman at his apartment and that he had a gun and drugs in the apartment, according to court documents.

State parole agents went to Rivas’ apartment on March 27 to conduct a home check and found a firearm and cocaine in a bedside nightstand and contacted Norristown police for assistance, according to court papers.

“I observed the open drawer in the bedroom of the apartment. Inside, I observed a black handgun next to a small clear plastic bag containing large and small chunks of a white, rocky substance I believe from my training and experience to be ‘crack’ cocaine,” Norristown Police Officer Joey Bianchimano alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Closer inspection revealed the weapon was actually a so-called “ghost gun” with no serial number.

“The magazine that had been inserted was an extended magazine with eleven 9mm Luger rounds, with a 12th ejected from inside the chamber,” Bianchimano alleged.

Police and parole agents also found marijuana and a digital scale in the apartment.

During a subsequent interview by police, Rivas admitted ownership of the firearm and cocaine.

Court documents indicate parole agents also found two replica guns that Rivas admitted belonged to him.

After a pretrial hearing in November, Ferman denied Rivas’ petition to suppress the evidence, specifically the search and seizure of the firearm and cocaine and his statements to police. The judge found that testimony of the parole agent and Bianchimano were “credible and worthy of belief.”

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Anne Arena handled the case. Defense lawyer Clinton Herrmann represented Rivas.

Other charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of marijuana were dismissed against Rivas as part of the plea agreement.