A former Bristol Borough landlord agreed to plead no contest to a single stalking count instead of proceeding with jury trial that was scheduled to begin Tuesday at the Justice Center in Doylestown connected to five arrests in only what can be described as a unhinged campaign to scare his former tenant and her two children away from a Buckley Street rental.
Angel Rivera, now of Levittown, was dragged off his property by Bristol Borough Police, last June, kicking and screaming when he was arrested for a fifth and final time all of which involved various forms of terrorizing, harassing, intruding, threatening the victim and her sons. Beginning in October of 2022 until his last arrest, Rivera did everything he could think of to make the family of three miserable, apparently under the impression it was perfectly legal to torture the family. The courts in civil and criminal cases signaled to him that was not the case almost every step of the way. The former tenant beat him in civil cases earning a financial judgment from Rivera, also.
After waiting through four scheduled trial dates and three related scheduled negotiation conferences, the victim (who provided consent to include her name for this story) Danielle Hunter said Tuesday, she felt a sense of empowerment because it was her decision whether to go forward with the trial.
“I’ve had enough this and I wanted it to end today, she said, noting she could now remove the conscience everyday presence of Rivera in her life for good”
Asked why she let him off the hook easily by agreeing to the nolo contendere.
It was just under a year ago when she testified, calmly and deliberately, through multiple preliminary hearings on the same day where some of the most serious charges were thrown out and/or withdrawn during those hearings.
Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey L. Finley sentenced Rivera to five years of probation as part of the deal Hunter approved. As part of the plea agreement, Finley ordered Rivera to pay court costs, implemented a no contact order, directed him to continue taking mental health medications and ordered mental health treatment for the military Veteran.
Hunter said she was on standby to testify at the trial just in case Rivera decided against accepting the offer worked out with prosecutors by his attorney Paul Michael Dimaio, Esq.
” I was just wanted to be rid off him for good” she repeated.
The irony is now Hunter gets to impact Rivera…. for the next five years.
