May 5—Three men indicted by a grand jury for providing drugs to Longmont high school students in exchange for money and sexual acts are set for trial.

Mario Moreno, 24; Angelo Torres, 21; and Aldair Garcia Rodriguez, 23, all pleaded not guilty to their counts Friday in Boulder District Court.

Boulder Chief Trial District Attorney Christine Rinke said she intended to file a motion to try all three men in a joint trial, and asked Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler to set all three for trial in a year.

Attorneys for the three men asked Butler for another hearing, saying they had a lot of evidence to go over and wanted more time before setting a trial date.

But Butler said that since prosecutors were willing to set the case out a year, the attorneys should have time to prepare for trial.

Butler scheduled all three men for a three-week trial starting May 6, 2024, pending the motion to join.

They are also set for a motions hearing on Feb. 7.

Moreno was indicted on 59 charges, including sex assault on a child, human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, tampering with a witness, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, money laundering, tax evasion and special offender drug charges.

Torres was indicted on charges of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and distribution of a controlled substance.

Garcia Rodriguez was indicted on five charges, including human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude and distribution of a controlled substance to a minor.

Moreno and Garcia Rodriguez are being held on $1 million bond and Torres was released on $200,000 bond.

According to a release, a grand jury found the three men would sell drugs — namely cocaine, MDMA, marijuana and marijuana concentrate — to students at various schools throughout the St. Vrain Valley School District, sometimes in exchange for sexual acts.

According to the indictments, the investigation began in September 2021 when investigators witnessed narcotics being sold at Loomiller Park.

The indictment indicated there were student victims as young as 14.