23-year-old Colin Shapard of Las Vegas pleaded guilty in December 2023 to the distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in serious bodily injury.
The offense carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors and defense attorneys jointly recommended a 20 year sentence.
On Thursday a U.S. District Court Judge in Salt Lake City sentenced Shapard to 20 years in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release.
As part of his plea agreement Shapard admitted to mailing a package containing numerous fentanyl pills from Las Vegas to Park City in February 2022.
The recipient of the package overdosed after he ingested the pills, and lost consciousness.
The victim’s father found him, called 911, and began CPR. Emergency personnel administered Narcan, which is a drug that reverses the effects of opioids including fentanyl. The victim was hospitalized and survived.
DEA agents tied the drugs to Shapard, who was arrested the following month.
Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine, and up to 50 times stronger than heroin.
Shapard admitted to knowing that fentanyl is a controlled substance that is illegal to distribute.
The investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office found that Shapard mailed opioids to Utah multiple times. He was implicated in the overdose deaths of two 13-year-old Treasure Mountain Junior High students in 2016. Due to his age at the time, Shapard was charged in juvenile court with multiple felonies for the deaths of the two teens. He ultimately pleaded guilty to a single count of reckless endangerment and was sentenced to probation and drug treatment.
“For the last eight years, Shapard has worked as a sophisticated seller of deadly opioids,” court documents state. “Shapard shows no remorse for the harm his drugs have caused in the past. If not detained, Shapard will continue to distribute deadly opioids to youth in Park City, specifically, and Utah generally.”
The federal court case was part of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, Park City Police Department, and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
