Ex-Eagle Scout accused in online drug empire to stand trial

SALT LAKE CITY: A 29-year-old former Eagle Scout accused of running a multimillion-dollar opioid drug ring out of his suburban Salt Lake City basement is set to go on trial Monday.

Prosecutors say Aaron Shamo was a prolific dark web kingpin who peddled poisonous fentanyl pressed to look like prescription drugs to thousands of people, killing at least one.

Authorities said the 2016 bust of the operation that sold nearly half-million pills ranked among the largest in the country.

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But Shamo's family and lawyers say that's a false image of him. They say he made mistakes, but he's being wrongly targeted as the sole ringleader, despite evidence his partners who were offered plea agreements were as deeply involved as he was.

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