DENVER • A former Fort Carson soldier arrested during an April 2025 raid of an illegal nightclub in Colorado Springs pleaded his federal charges down Thursday to avoid prison time.

Juan Orona-Rodriguez, 28, was one of 17 soldiers arrested at the 296 S. Academy Blvd. nightclub on April 27, 2025. The Drug Enforcement Administration linked the nightclub to drug distribution and found weapons, cash and user quantities of drugs inside back rooms of two buildings, spokesperson Steffan Tubbs told The Gazette. The drugs were believed to be supplied by the Sinaloa cartel.

That May, Orona-Rodriguez entered a not guilty plea to cocaine distribution and possession to distribute. He is the only soldier who faced legal charges that stemmed from the raid. The former staff sergeant was running a Colorado Springs-based security company, Immortal Security LLC, comprised of him and other active-duty soldiers. At the time of the raid, his company was providing security.

Orona-Rodriguez was headed to trial but changed that plan earlier this month when he filed a motion to reenter a guilty plea that was granted by Judge Regina Rodriguez on Thursday.

The agreement had him plead guilty to the possession of a small amount of cocaine, a federal misdemeanor charge that carries a sentencing guideline of up to six months of prison time. Orona-Rodriguez avoided jail time and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation. His former felony-level charges potentially carried years of prison time.

He also must pay a $1,000 fine and be regularly drug tested during his probation period.

“It’s been a long ride,” Orona-Rodriguez told the court. “I deeply apologize … Everything that’s happened has taught me that the things I did weren’t the best things.”

All parties gathered in court Thursday agreed that the circumstances were “highly unusual” and that it was rare for such an outcome but that the punishment was adequate.

Rodriguez determined the sentence was appropriate because of the life-altering losses Orona-Rodriguez already sustained, the remorse he’s demonstrated over the last 15 months while on bond and his lack of a criminal history.

According to a sentencing statement filed by Orona-Rodriguez’s defense team, the defendant was given an “other than honorable discharge” from the Army, losing out on a nearly decade-long career as an infantryman who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. His discharge also made him ineligible for military benefits many receive after their service.

Defense attorney Stephanie Snyder said her client has been on a “positive trajectory” since his arrest. She wrote in the statement that he has been “perfectly compliant” with his pretrial release conditions while still taking care of his children and pursuing a postgraduate study.

Rodriguez said Orona-Rodriguez should view his punishment as a “cautionary tale.”

“It is, frankly, quite tragic to see a young man with such promise as yourself … to then have such a fall from grace,” she said. “At a minimum, I hope this whole experience has taught you well.”

About 300 law enforcement agents participated in the raid of the illegal nightclub in the early morning hours of April 27, 2025. Of the 200 attendees, 104 people living in the country illegally — from Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia, Nicaragua, Chile and Honduras — were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Tubbs said.

Two men were also arrested for outstanding warrants on unrelated charges, The Gazette previously reported. Julio Santiesteban, 34, was arrested on a misdemeanor failure-to-appear warrant from Adams County. Pedro Trevizo-Perea, 30, was arrested on a misdemeanor active warrant from Denver for third-degree assault, criminal mischief and child abuse.

State and federal court records show no charges were ever brought against Virginia Thorne, the nightclub’s lessee who operated the event space through the name Warike Events. El Paso County marriage records show that her daughter, Mayra Cabezas Thorne, married Juan Orona-Rodriguez weeks before the nightclub was raided on April 1.

It is unknown if many of the others arrested were deported. The Gazette has sent several requests throughout the months to ICE about these people. The agency has declined to comment each time.

According to Tubbs, 12 firearms were seized, as well as user quantities of cocaine, pink cocaine (tusi) and methamphetamine.