A 31-year-old man has been sentenced to 11 years in state prison for his role in the August 1, 2025 stabbing that occurred during Santa Barbara’s annual Old Spanish Days Fiesta celebrations.
Sergio Rivas pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with force likely to cause great bodily injury and possession of a controlled substance while armed. He was sentenced to prison in August.
He also pleaded guilty to two enhancements: a second strike allegation and causing great bodily injury.
The assault charge was filed in connection with the Aug. 1 stabbing, and the possession allegation was filed in connection with his Aug. 2 arrest, per Superior Court records.
He was in custody at Wasco State Prison as of Friday, per state prison custody records. He will be eligible for parole in March 2033.
Rivas, then 30, was taken into custody by Santa Barbara Police in August 2025 in connection with a stabbing that killed one man and injured two others in downtown Santa Barbara. He was found in possession of a loaded firearm at the time of his arrest.
Police initially responded at around 12:20 a.m. to the 500 block of State Street. They found a man lying on the ground with a stab wound — who later died of his injuries — and two other people who had also been stabbed.
The man who died of his injuries was later identified by police as Anthony Michael Bisquera Hartley, 30.
A man identified as J. Ramos was stabbed and injured, according to court documents. Rivas was also stabbed.
Police initially arrested three people in connection with this incident: Rivas, Juan Fernando Rios, 28, and Luis Gerardo Terrazas, 29.
The District Attorney’s Office initially filed murder and gang-related charges, but later dropped those charges and amended other allegations after video evidence showed Bisquera Hartley was armed with a knife when he attacked Rivas.
Authorities said that Rivas “acted in lawful self defense” when he stabbed Bisquera Hartley, and that Rios acted in lawful defense of Rivas when he stabbed Bisquera Hartley.
The allegations against Rios were discharged last year, per Superior Court records.
Rivas’ assault charge and related allegations were related to stabbing Ramos.
Terrazas was shot and killed at Bohnett Park on Santa Barbara’s Westside in February.
At the time, he was facing charges of felony assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury and personally using a deadly weapon related to stabbing Rivas.
He had been released from jail custody on a $150,000 bail.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against three people in connection with Terrazas’ death: 18-year-old Jimmy Alexander Mora Jr. and 19-year-old Jorge Angel Hurtado, both of Ventura County, and a juvenile whose name was not released.
The cases against Mora Jr. and the unnamed juvenile are being tried in Santa Barbara Juvenile Court because both were under the age of 18 at the time of the murder.
Hurtado has pleaded not guilty.
He is set to appear before the court on Oct. 28 for a preliminary hearing setting.
