Guilty plea in Ecstasy death

Perez, an eighth-grader at Ralston Middle School, was taken off life support after taking an ecstasy pill at the slumber party April 23, and died on April 28.

"I never could link him [Rivera] directly to the deceased victim, but I could definitely put him in the chain of events," said Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Raffaelli, who is prosecuting five defendants in Perez's death.

Raffaelli believes that Rivera provided ecstasy pills to a 17-year-old boy, who in turn sold the drugs to a 13-year-old girl, who gave Perez the fatal pill.

Rivera's charges, "Not only represent the events that took place the night that Irma Perez died, but also [show] that he engaged in charges before and after the death of this girl," Raffaelli said.

While not pleading guilty to all 13 counts against him, "He did plead to the charges that carry the greatest potential consequence," Raffaelli said.

Rivera will emerge from the case with two strikes against him under California's three strikes law, Raffaelli said.

Related to Perez's death, Rivera pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide controlled substances to minors, possession of a controlled substance for sale and inducing a violation by a minor.

Rivera also pleaded to charges of inducing a minor to commit a drug offense in an April 13 incident, in which he provided cocaine to a 13-year-old girl, with a special allegation that the child was at least four years younger than himself.

He admitted to one count of possession of cocaine for sale, on April 24, 2002, the day he was arrested.

While the prosecution has no evidence that Rivera knew of Perez's illness the night of April 23, he allegedly learned of the adverse reaction the next day and continued to sell drugs, Raffaelli said.

With Monday's plea, Rivera, who originally pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, faces a maximum of eight years in prison. He will be sentenced Oct. 22.

Two girls who were with Perez that night, now both 14, have been sentenced to rehabilitation programs for their contribution to her death. The girls both failed to call 911 as Perez lay dying.

The 17-year-old Belmont boy accused of selling the pills awaits trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. A fifth defendant, Angelique Malabey, 18, has pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting a felony.