the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A former physician from Ridgewood (Bergen County) who planned to create an explosion that would topple an iconic financial statue in New York City will spend up to 25 years in state prison. Roberto Rivera, 66, received the sentence on February 22 following separate convictions for hoarding bomb-making materials in his apartment and for possessing assault weapons. Rivera claimed he wanted to plant explosives at the feet of the Wall Street Bull statue in Manhattan’s financial district in order to upend it—an idea prosecutors said stemmed from his involvement in the Occupy Wall Street movement around August 2011.
Rivera moved into his Ridgewood apartment and began researching chemicals and homemade explosives around this time, with neighbors recalling a “constant flow” of packages being delivered to his door. A citizen’s tip led to a police raid in November 2012, where authorities discovered that Rivera was hoarding bomb-making materials and had two assault rifles and ammunition. A jury found Rivera guilty on the weapons charges on February 1, and he had previously been convicted for having a destructive device on November 26. A trial in April was declared a mistrial after a juror independently received information regarding the case. Rivera is eligible for parole after seven years.
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