LAPLACE — The District Attorney’s office credited a diligent and cooperative witness with helping deliver justice in a 4-year-old LaPlace armed robbery case.

Kevin Rivas, 25, of LaPlace pleaded guilty this month to armed robbery and was sentenced to 15 years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Rivas was given credit for time served since his arrest in March 2013.

“Mr. Rivas was involved in a robbery at gunpoint as he stole the victim’s cell phone,” St. John the Baptist Parish D.A. Bridget A. Dinvaut said. “The victim was extremely cooperative with the state’s prosecution of the case. As a result, the defendant pled to 15 years with the department of corrections.”

The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office linked Rivas to a March 2013 armed robbery in the 400 block of Belmont Drive in LaPlace.

A 26-year-old female told deputies she was outside her residence when two male subjects in a white car drove up to her, with one subject getting out of the car and robbing her at gunpoint.

After she surrendered her cellphone, the perpetrators fled the area.

At the time of the investigation and arrest, police said the victim provided deputies with a description of the vehicle and license plate information, which was shared with dispatchers and led to the arrests of three people in Kenner by officers from the Kenner Police Department.

Dinvaut said there are no other prosecutions connected to the Rivas case, as the victim identified the defendant as the sole armed robber.

Dinvaut said Rivas’ sentence was fair.

“Given the facts in the case, armed robbery is a crime of violence,” she said. “The District Attorney’s office takes the use of guns and that particular crime against another person very seriously and, as such, we prosecuted the case in that manner.”

According to the St. John Clerk of Court’s Office, Rivas’ sentence is to run concurrent with all other sentences being served.