WEBER COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A Federal Grand Jury has indicted three Weber County men on drug charges after the overdose death of a fourth.
Charged in the indictment are Adam Hemmelgarn, 37, of Hooper; Tyrell Jabbar Perry, 20, of Roy; and Christian Scott Jimerson, age 19, of West Haven.
The victim of the fatal overdose is identified in court papers as J.R., but his family has asked that his name — Jaydon Rogers — be revealed.
Rogers, 22, was found unresponsive at his West Haven residence on March 12 of this year. He was transported to Ogden Regional Medical Center, where he died two days later. The indictment says that cyclopropyl fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, caused Rogers’ death.
The charges leveled against all three suspects are:
- Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances
- Conspiracy to distribute cyclopropyl fentanyl
Two additional charges faced by Hemmelgarn alone are:
- Possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking
- Possession of a firearm following a felony conviction
The indictment alleges Hemmelgarn had six firearms and associated ammunition in his possession.
Hemmelgarn was taken into custody Thursday. He had an initial appearance Friday
afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. A detention hearing for Hemmelgarn was continued to Aug. 31.
Perry and Jimerson were initially charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled
substances and distribution of cyclopropyl fentanyl in a sealed indictment returned by a grand jury on Aug. 2. A summons will be issued to both of them to appear on the charges in the superseding indictment.
Should the men be found guilty, the potential maximum sentence for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death is life in prison with a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Possession of a firearm following a felony conviction has a maximum 10-year sentence, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense has a five-year mandatory minimum sentence, which would run consecutively with any sentence imposed for a drug offense.
Agents, deputies, and officers of the DEA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, and the Davis County Metro Narcotics Task Force are investigating the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.
