Ocala, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Devin Joseph Rivera (24, Ocala) has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. Rivera faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, on July 24, 2024, Rivera communicated online within someone whom he believed was a 13-year-old girl. The child, however, was an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent. Rivera engaged in a sexually explicit conversation with the undercover agent and, ultimately, was arrested when he traveled to a pre-determined meeting location in Marion County to engage in sexual activity with the child. Rivera also brought a blanket and a condom with him to that location.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the Ocala Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Chiefland Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.