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SALT LAKE CITY — A Cottonwood Heights man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to new charges that link a fentanyl overdose death to his alleged home-based, pill-making operation.
Aaron Michael Shamo, 28, was arraigned in U.S. District Court on a second, superseding 13-count indictment filed earlier this month. He is now accused of intentionally and knowingly distributing a substance containing fentanyl, the use of which resulted in the June 2016 death of a person identified as R.K.
Prosecutors have not revealed details about the death.
Shamo also is charged with continuing a criminal enterprise, importation and manufacturing of a controlled substance, possession of drugs with intent to distribute, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Prosecutors allege Shamo ran an international drug ring that imported fentanyl and alprazolam from China and made fake oxycodone pills and Xanax tablets. The drugs were sold on the darknet to thousands of people all over the country, according to court documents.
Shamo is scheduled to go trial on the previous indictment in January, and the judge Tuesday kept the date in place. Shamo is being held in the Weber County Jail.
