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

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) —Tyquan Rivera, the man convicted of attempted murder and imprisoned as a teenager for shooting a Rochester Police officer will spend the next 15 years in prison on drug charges.

Prosecutors with the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office Tuesday said Rivera will also be subject to three years of post-release supervision.

Last month he pleaded guilty to the charges, which includes third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. Rivera, 27, was charged connection to a 2019 arrest after investigators say he sold fentanyl to two undercover Rochester police officers.

Rivera was 14 when he shot Officer Anthony DiPonzio in 2009. He was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in February 2019.

In June of 2020, Rivera was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in a deadly crash.

In August of 2020, Rivera was charged with obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest after an incident that ultimately led to police tasing him.

In October 2020 police say they caught him with drugs again, and additional drug charges were filed against him.

He’s also facing charges after prosecutors say Rivera assaulted and strangled a former girlfriend he was already under a court order of protection to stay away from. In that case, he was released without bail and was free when this assault is alleged to have happened.

With the latest conviction, Rivera will also pay restitution worth $840.