LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after a drug deal nearly killed a Utah man.
Court documents state an investigation into then-21-year-old Colin Andrew Shapard in November 2021 after a resident in Park City, Utah told police he obtained drugs from Shapard.
That same person told investigators that in 2016, Shapard was the person who supplied a dangerous synthetic opioid to two 13-year-old middle school students, who later died after taking the substance. Shapard was charged in juvenile court for the deaths of the two teens.
In December 2021, investigators seized two shipments of counterfeit blue M30 pill with fentanyl, which were mailed from Las Vegas to Utah. Drug Enforcement Administration agents also learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had previously seized four illicit drug shipments addressed to Shapard from the Netherlands.
In addition to that, customs enforcement agents in Germany seized two U.S.-bound packages addressed to Shapard in October 2020, which contained amphetamine-based drugs. That same year, Shapard received a FedEx package to a Midvale, Utah address, which authorities said contained chemicals utilized in making GHB and/or fentanyl.
According to the Justice Department, in 2022, undercover DEA agents purchased drugs from Shapard on encrypted apps and that Shapard told the agent that the "blues" he sold were legitimate pharmaceuticals that he got in Canada. Shapard also "claimed he tested every shipment of pills he received to confirm they did not contain fentanyl, when in fact they did."
In February 2022, a Park City man was found unresponsive on the floor by his father who then called 911 and began CPR. Emergency medical personnel administered Narcan. The victim was hospitalized but survived. DEA agents later discovered the victim had overdosed on blue M30 fentanyl pills, which were purchased from Shapard.
"Mr. Shapard continued to profit off numerous individuals with is fentanyl-laced pills even after being charged for the deaths of two teenagers in 2016," said Glen Henderson, Inspector In Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Phoenix Division. "This significant sentence sends a message to drug traffickers who have no regard for human life."
Shapard was arrested on March 8, 2022. In December 2023, he pleaded guilty to distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in serious bodily injury.
On Thursday, Shapard was sentenced to spend 20 years in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release.
"In the 10 years that I've been prosecuting cases like this, I think Mr. Shapard is probably one of the most dangerous individuals that I have encountered. He's incredibly bright. He learned how to navigate the dark web to acquire illicit drugs at the age of 15 and even after the deaths of two 13-year-old classmates in 2016, he continued to do that, knowing full well what the potential consequences were," said Serena Whistler, the Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Section in U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah. "I have not seen, in my career, someone with such an incredibly callous disregard for the lives of other people. Given his history, the nature and circumstances of the offense, the extent to which he concealed the true nature of the product he was selling, this office believed a 20-year sentenced was entirely appropriate."
