Amid pending rape case, feds charge Alamo man with possessing guns as a felon

OAKLAND — Federal prosecutors have charged an Alamo man with being a felon in possession of a firearm, months after he was charged in Contra Costa Superior Court with raping a woman inside a hotel.

Brian Ordonez, 42, was charged March 10 with being a felon in possession of multiple guns, including an AR-pistol with no serial number, allegedly found at his Alamo home. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted.

The guns were found in a July 2021 search of Ordonez’s home, which followed an incident earlier that month in which a woman accused Ordonez of sexually assaulting her. The woman also reported that Ordonez “brandished a firearm, threatened to kill her, choked her until she lost consciousness, and she woke up in the shower” of a room in the Sonesta Select hotel in Pleasant Hill.

The alleged assault was reportedly witnessed by a man and a woman, who are respectively referred to as MM and LR in court records. The complaint alleges that before the assault, LR texted Ordonez, “Grab (the alleged victim). Tie her up to a chair and have [M.M.] get out of the room,” and Ordonez texted that he was going to rob her.

Police served a search warrant at Ordonez’s home a week later, and found two rifles and a pistol, as well as gun parts, ammunition, and three cellphones linked to Ordonez. The phones contained pictures of him posing with guns, as well as a picture of a masked man posing with several rifles, police said.

Ordonez was not allowed to possess guns due to a 1998 conviction for robbery and burglary, the complaint alleges.

Last year, Contra Costa prosecutors filed rape and and domestic violence in relation to the hotel incident. That case is still pending, according to the federal complaint.