Utah man pleads not guilty to mail fraud charge

SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah businessman has pleaded not guilty to a federal mail fraud charge stemming from allegations that his company billed consumers online for products they never ordered.

Jeremy David Johnson entered the plea Thursday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. If convicted, he faces a 20-year prison term.

Prosecutors say Johnson's company, iWorks, sent software to consumers for a supposedly risk-free trial, but then billed them anyway. Authorities say iWorks and dozens of other shell companies netted more than $350 million in sales from hundreds of thousands of victims.

The criminal charge parallels a civil complaint filed in December.

Defense attorney Nathan Crane says Johnson was running a legitimate business.

Johnson was arrested last month in at the Phoenix airport while waiting for a flight to Costa Rica.