Associate of Utah man accused of running international drug ring faces federal charges

Associate of Utah man accused of running international drug ring faces federal charges

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SALT LAKE CITY — Another associate of a Cottonwood Heights man accused of running an international drug ring from his home faces federal charges for allegedly making fake prescription painkillers.

Jonathan Luke Paz allegedly manufactured 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid, according to charges filed Thursday in U.S. District Court. He also allegedly made pills to look like 30-mg oxycodone tablets, in which fentanyl was substituted for oxycodone.

Paz also is accused of money laundering. Prosecutors are seeking to seize a 2011 Ford pickup, a 2008 BMW sedan and $7 million in cash, including $5.3 million from the sale of 513.15 bitcoin, the charges state.

According to the charges, Paz worked with Aaron Michael Shamo, who is scheduled to go to trial in August.

Shamo and Drew Wilson Crandall are accused of manufacturing fake prescription-drug pills in Shamo's home and selling them on the darknet — an area of the internet often used for illegal activity — to thousands of people all over the country, at one point raking in $2.8 million in less than a year.

Authorities are investigating 28 overdose deaths they say could be connected to the drug ring, though no charges have been filed in the deaths.

Agents seized nearly 500,000 pills from Shamo's home in Cottonwood Heights, court documents state. Prosecutors say the agents found guns and more than $1 million in cash stuffed in garbage bags, as well as pills made to look like Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and oxycodone.

Investigators also came upon a cache of about $500,000 worth of bitcoin, which exploded last December and reached an estimated $8.5 million in value. Prosecutors successfully motioned to sell the cryptocurrency, along with some of Shamo's other assets.

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Dennis Romboy
Dennis Romboy is an editor and reporter for the Deseret News. He has covered a variety of beats over the years, including state and local government, social issues and courts. A Utah native, Romboy earned a degree in journalism from the University of Utah. He enjoys cycling, snowboarding and running.

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