DENVER (KDVR) — A federal judge ordered Thursday that a Fort Carson staff sergeant in the U.S. Army accused of selling cocaine at an underground nightclub could be released from federal custody on Friday.
Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, 28, a Staff Sergeant in the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the 4th Infantry Division, was arrested on May 1 by FBI Denver special agents. He is charged with one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.
He is scheduled to appear dressed for release on Friday at 10 a.m. for a bond release hearing after arguments were held Thursday on the conditions of his bond. Those conditions are not provided in online federal court records.
Orona-Rodriguez was “one of approximately 17 active-duty U.S. Army service members” at an underground Colorado Springs nightclub that was subject to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raid on April 27, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. He also allegedly provided security services at the club.
“Orona-Rodriguez appears to hold a leadership role in a business called Immortal Security LLC, which provides armed security at ‘nightclubs’ – including an afterhours, unlawful nightclub called Warike – within Colorado Springs, Colorado,” a U.S. attorney’s office release announcing Orona-Rodriguez’s arrest and charges stated. “On numerous occasions, the Colorado Springs Police Department received 911 calls related to Warike citing a wide variety of alleged crimes, including weapons violations, assault, narcotics, and other violent crime.”
According to an arrest affidavit, Orona-Rodriguez had been told by commanding officers in March that “Immortal Security Operation LLC is off limits to members of the Armed Forces.” Specifically, he was told, according to the affidavit, “‘…you are prohibited in engaging in off-duty employment without the approval of the Battalion Commander IAW 4ID…”
Rodriguez received more than a dozen Army awards during his almost nine years in service, including an Army Commendation Medal with combat device, which is earned during a deployment where the soldier was “performing meritoriously under the most arduous combat conditions,” according to Army descriptions of the award.
The attorney’s office said Orona-Rodriguez sold cocaine to an undercover DEA agent in April. After obtaining a search warrant for Orona-Rodriguez’s phone, the investigation found text messages dating back to September 2024, which appeared to show him purchasing and selling cocaine.
According to an arrest affidavit, agents executed the search warrant on April 10. The court document outlines conversations allegedly discussing drug sales dating back several months.
The same document describes how FBI and DEA agents conducted a controlled purchase from Orona-Rodriguez on April 21 and 22 near the military member’s home in Colorado Springs. The substance that was purchased tested presumptively positive for the presence of cocaine and was submitted to a DEA laboratory for testing.
Although he is not facing any charges, the arrest affidavit says that throughout September 2024, Orona-Rodriguez was texting with an undocumented immigrant about the sale of firearms.
The affidavit says the investigators believed the payment for the purchase was made partially of cocaine and partially of cash. The affidavit also includes a photo of a Glock handgun with a high-capacity magazine that was allegedly texted by Orona-Rodriguez to the immigrant in September 2024.
