ATLANTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Four active-duty U.S. soldiers -- three of them elite Army Rangers -- have been arrested and charged with planning to rob drug traffickers . A courtroom sketch shows David White , left , Stefan Champagne , center , and Carlos Lopez . Wearing street clothes , Rangers Carlos Lopez , 30 , and David Ray White , 28 , and Army medic Stefan Andre Champagne , 28 , appeared in federal court Friday . They 're charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and with carrying firearms in connection with that conspiracy . U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman ordered them held in custody until a preliminary hearing Wednesday . Another Ranger , Randy Spivey , 32 , is scheduled to appear in court Monday . `` It is a sad day when members of one of America 's most elite corps of soldiers , the Army Rangers , are alleged to have become involved in criminal activity , '' U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case . `` These men were trained to defend the people and principles of this country , not to use their skills to steal cocaine from drug dealers at gunpoint . '' Lopez , White and Champagne were arrested Thursday at a storage facility in Sandy Springs , Georgia , a suburb just north of Atlanta , by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives who had set up a sting operation . Spivey was apprehended at Camp Frank D. Merrill , an Army Ranger training center in Dahlonega , Georgia , on Friday , the ATF said . Dahlonega is about 60 miles north of Atlanta . Lopez , White and Champagne were to commit the robbery while Spivey covered for them back at the camp , where the men are stationed , according to an affidavit filed with U.S. District Court . All four were to get a cut of the spoils of the robbery , the affidavit from ATF Agent Brett Turner says . The investigation began in November , when the ATF `` became aware '' that some soldiers were interested in robbing drug dealers of their cocaine , Turner says . He posed as a disaffected security guard for the drug traffickers who wanted to `` rip them off . '' The first try to set up the `` robbery '' failed , but a second attempt earlier this month succeeded , leading to the arrests at the storage facility and , a day later , the Ranger camp . A subsequent search found that Lopez , White and Champagne were carrying semiautomatic pistols and had an AR-15 assault rifle and a field pouch with 15 magazines of ammunition for it in their vehicle . Agents also found a ski mask , binoculars and a Taser among the items the men brought with them . The four soldiers face minimum mandatory sentences of 10 years in prison each for the drug conspiracy and an additional five years , consecutive , for the weapons allegation . The Army Rangers are an elite light infantry fighting force capable of deploying anywhere in the world within 18 hours . They became a permanent presence in the U.S. military in the 1970s . From the Colonial Era until that time , Rangers were activated for specific missions or conflicts and then deactivated when their work was completed . E-mail to a friend .
Arrests made after ATF agents set up a sting operation . Affidavit : ATF `` became aware '' some soldiers wanted to rob dealers of their cocaine . The investigation began in November . The Army Rangers are an elite light infantry fighting force .