An entrance sign at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the joint Army-Air Force installation south of Seattle. (U.S. Army)
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — A soldier was sentenced Friday to just over six years in prison in the first conviction on charges against four service members that they sexually assaulted a female ROTC student during a barracks party last year.
Pvt. Deron J. Gordon, 20, pleaded guilty to one specification each of sexual assault, abusive sexual contact and indecent recording.
Col. Matthew Fitzgerald, the presiding military judge, sentenced Gordon to 75 months in prison, total forfeiture of pay and allowances, reduction in rank to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army.
Gordon will be required upon his release to register as a sex offender, said Michelle McCaskill, communications director for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
In exchange for the plea bargain, the Army dismissed additional charges of sexual assault, conspiracy to commit sexual assault, indecent recording and broadcasting, and obstruction of justice.
Gordon also agreed to testify in the courts-martial of the three other soldiers charged in the incident: Pfc. Kallon Curiel, Spc. Jadon Bosarge and Cpl. Pedro Angel Ruiz.
“The sexual assaults occurred at the same time and place with all charged soldiers present,” McCaskill said.
The Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, was created in 2023 by Congress to handle the prosecution of major sex crimes, murder, manslaughter and kidnapping involving Army personnel. Similar offices were created for the other armed services.
Maj. Ryan Keeter, the chief prosecutor for the Sixth Circuit, which includes Lewis-McChord, said that while Gordon will assist the prosecution in the other courts-martial, he was a key participant in the crimes and will be punished with the prison term and other actions.
“Pvt. Gordon committed egregious sexual acts upon a vulnerable and unconscious victim,” Keeter said in a statement on Friday.
Gordon’s sentencing followed Fitzgerald’s decision late Thursday to throw out the first two days of the court-martial and begin again on Friday with Gordon entering his plea.
McCaskill said Friday that the move was due to Fitzgerald’s concerns about the clarity of the terms of the plea deal. The revised version called for the same sentencing. The Army provided no further details.
In a repeat of Wednesday’s activity, Gordon on Friday told Fitzgerald that he wanted to plead guilty to three charges and have his sentence determined by the judge alone instead of a court-martial panel of soldiers.
Fitzgerald accepted the plea deal and dismissed the other charges against Gordon.
Gordon testified Wednesday that the four male soldiers and the female ROTC student were partying and drinking heavily on the night of the sexual assault.
During his earlier testimony, Gordon described the ROTC student as unconscious in a bedroom after drinking several cans of alcoholic seltzer. He and another soldier removed her clothing and engaged in sexual acts. Digital recordings of the incident were later shared via Snapchat.
The judge on Wednesday read aloud to the court the legal definitions of sexual assault under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“A sleeping or unconscious person cannot consent,” Fitzgerald said. “Voluntary intoxication is not a mitigating circumstance.”
Speaking barely above a whisper, Gordon said the victim had not consented when he and another soldier removed the victim’s pants and underwear as she lay face down on a bed.
“She did not move or speak,” Gordon said. “I should have known she could not say ‘no.’ ”
The victim’s name was said aloud several times in the courtroom. Stars and Stripes does not reveal the identities of sexual crime victims. McCaskill said that the victim has since been commissioned as an Army officer.
Sexual assault is just below rape under Article 120 of the UCMJ. It is defined as “intentional sexual contact characterized by the use of force, threats, intimidation, abuse of authority, or when the victim does not or cannot consent.”
Gordon, a multiple launch rocket system crew member for B Battery, 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, will be held at Northwestern Joint Regional Correctional Facility, a medium-security jail at Lewis-McChord, so that he can testify in the other courts-martial. He will then be transferred to the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the military’s maximum security prison for male inmates.
Under the military’s sentencing guidelines, Gordon could have received up to 42 years in prison for the three charges to which he pleaded guilty, Army prosecutors said Wednesday.
In addition to Gordon, the Army has charged:
• Pfc. Kallon Curiel, 19, also of B Battery, faces multiple charges, including sexual assault, indecent recording and obstruction of justice. He was additionally charged in Arizona with sexual assault of a child and is currently being held at the Northwestern Joint Regional Correctional Facility.
• Spc. Jadon Bosarge, 24, a communications repair specialist with the 125th Forward Support Company, faces charges including sexual assault and conspiracy. His court-martial is scheduled for September. He is not in pretrial confinement.
• Cpl. Pedro Angel Ruiz, 29, a small arms and artillery repairer with the same unit, faces similar charges. His trial is set for Nov. 4. He is also not in pretrial confinement.
If convicted on any of the charges, penalties would also include a reduction in grade to E-1, forfeiture of benefits and pay and a dishonorable discharge at the end of time served in prison. Penalties can also include registering as a sex offender.
