Man who shot RPD officer as a teenager sentenced to 15 years in prison

Rochester, New York — A 27-year-old man who shot a city police officer will spend 15 years in prison.

Last month Tyquan Rivera pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

According to prosecutors, Rivera sold 40 decks of fentanyl to an undercover New York State Trooper.

Rivera was sentenced as a second felony drug offender previously convicted of a violent felony, and will also pay $840 in restitution.

According to one of Rivera’s lawyers, he is a smart young man and hopes he can be a productive member of society after his release.

With Rivera now in prison, Rochester is a safer place, the assistant district attorney in charge of the case, Matthew Schwartz said.

“I’ll say that anytime somebody pleads guilty or is convicted of selling narcotics, specifically Fentanyl or some of the more deadly substances – obviously that’s what Mr. Rivera plead to that what he was sentenced for this morning – so he, just like anybody else who is taken off the streets for engaging in that type of behavior, it results in a safer community,” he said.

Rivera shot Rochester Police Officer Anthony DiPonzio when he was 14. He went back to prison after he violated parole in 2017. He was released in 2019 – and later charged in connection with a fatal crash, a domestic disturbance, and selling drugs.