Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Jarrel Daniel Rivaz, 35, of Panama City, was found guilty by a federal jury of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and marijuana, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon on Tuesday morning, July 22, 2025. The verdict was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Fulfilling the promise of President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to Take Back America from violent criminals and drug traffickers requires close collaboration between our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners like we saw in this case. I am deeply appreciative of the outstanding work of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the ATF to get this criminal off our streets, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute these cases to keep our communities safe from the predations of drug traffickers like this defendant.”
Evidence admitted at trial established that on December 21, 2023, during a search warrant executed at the defendant’s house in Panama City, law enforcement found and seized over 900 grams of cocaine, a large quantity of marijuana, two firearms, and ammunition. One of the firearms was found loaded in a locked shed in the same bag as some of the marijuana. Rivaz had previously been convicted of a felony drug trafficking offense in New York under the name “Gerald Walker.”
Sentencing is scheduled for October 16, 2025, at 10 a.m. in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II. Rivaz faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum possible sentence of life.
The verdict was the result of a joint investigation by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ward Narramore and Alicia Forbes.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.