Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
A Salvadoran national, Adalberto Rivas Machado, has pled guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm in Alexandria, Virginia. According to court documents, law enforcement responded to a report on July 13, 2024, of a man brandishing a handgun at the Harmony Trailer Park. Officers found Rivas Machado, who matched the description provided.
Upon arrival, Rivas Machado fled from a uniformed officer but was apprehended after a brief chase. A pat-down revealed he had a loaded handgun with 9mm hollow point ammunition in his sweatpants above his left ankle.
Rivas Machado was prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law due to his illegal status in the United States and his addiction to drugs. An investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) found that he entered the U.S. without authorization as a juvenile in 2018 and was ordered removed to El Salvador by an immigration judge in 2019. He admitted to being addicted to fentanyl when he possessed the firearm, and officers recovered fentanyl from him during his arrest.
Rivas Machado is scheduled for sentencing on May 22 and faces up to 15 years in prison. Federal sentences are typically less than maximum penalties, with the final decision made by a federal district court judge considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The announcement was made by Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Kai Wah Chan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Washington D.C.; and Kevin Davis, Fairfax County Chief of Police after U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles accepted the plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc J. Birnbaum is prosecuting this case under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement and communities.
Additional information about this case can be found on the websites of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or through PACER by searching Case No. 1:24-cr-221.
