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A man who was acquitted of murdering a Millard County Sheriff's deputy but convicted on lesser crimes has lost an appeal of a firearms conviction.

In a 3-0 decision, the Utah Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected a claim by Roberto Miramontes Román that prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to support the charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person — in this case, someone who was in the United States illegally.

Román, now 43, was charged with first-degree felony aggravated murder in the shooting death of Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox during a Jan. 5, 2010, traffic stop. He was in a car with Fox's brother, Ryan Greathouse, at the time and says it was Greathouse who shot and killed her with an AK-47 when she pulled them over after they smoked methamphetamine together.

Greathouse, 40, died of a drug overdose in Las Vegas months after his sister's death. Before he died, Greathouse told deputies he bought drugs from Roman and another man shortly before Fox was killed, authorities said.

Román initially confessed to killing the deputy, but professed his innocence during a 2012 trial in 4th District Court, saying Greathouse had threatened him. He was acquitted of the killing but convicted of felony counts of evidence tampering and illegal possession of a dangerous weapon and sentenced to two consecutive 0-to-5-year prison terms. He did not appeal the tampering charge.

Before trial, a defense attorney stipulated that Román was in the country illegally, according to court records. On appeal, Román's lawyers unsuccessfully argued jurors should have been presented with the stipulation in order to have the information to convict on the weapon charge but were not.

In September 2013, a federal grand jury indicted Roman on 11 charges, including that he intentionally killed a law enforcement officer and committed other crimes leading up to and related to the shooting of Fox.

U.S. District Judge David Nuffer ruled last year that those new charges are legal because the federal court system is separate from the state system, and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld that decision. The case is pending.

Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC