A grand jury handed down a new indictment Thursday in a case involving a Salt Lake City opioid-drug ring, implicating the group’s alleged leader in the 2016 overdose death of a patron.
Aaron Michael Shamo, 27, was indicted in 2017 on 12 counts related to the opioid ring, which allegedly imported fentanyl and alprazolam from China and, for the most part, converted the drugs into fake oxycodone pills, which were then sold to customers online through dark web marketplaces. Prosecutors allege the drug ring distributed more than 800,000 pills.
The new indictment — the third filed in the case — adds an additional count of aiding and abetting the distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death.