3 charges filed in death of federal prison officer who opened drug-laced mail to inmate

Authorities said three people were charged after a federal prison officer opened drug-laced mail addressed to an inmate and died.

Jamar Jones, 35, an inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, California, Stephanie Ferreira, 35, of Evansville, Indiana, and Jermen Rudd III, 37, of Wentzville, Missouri, were charged on Tuesday, August 20, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said in a news release.

The trio is accused of sending drugs to the maximum security prison for Jones to sell. As part of the plot, Jones and Ferreira allegedly persuaded Rudd to send a drug-laced letter to Jones that was falsely marked as “legal mail,” the press release said.

On Aug. 9, a correctional officer — identified only as MF in a criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE — opened that letter and began feeling ill minutes later. “I'm not feeling well, it's traveling up my arm, I need medical attention,” another officer recalled MF saying.

After being examined by medical personnel, MF was subsequently taken to the hospital where he died, authorities said.

According to the criminal complaint, the letter, which was sent three days earlier, contained “a suspected test for amphetamines, fentanyl and 'spice' or synthetic cannabinoids and other substances.”

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Although the correctional officer's body was autopsied at the Merced County Medical Examiner's Office, the cause of death is still undetermined pending the results of toxicology tests, the complaint states. “No obvious physical cause of death other than drug-related causes was determined,” the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Jones is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and one count of distribution of controlled substances with a prior drug conviction, as well as with obtaining or attempting to obtain narcotics from an inmate.

Ferreria and Rudd are both charged with conspiracy to distribute and distribute a controlled substance and providing or attempting to provide controlled substances to an inmate, the indictment states. Both will be charged in their respective home states, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Jones is scheduled to appear in court next week.

It is unclear whether the trio has spoken out or hired lawyers to speak on their behalf. If convicted, all three suspects face decades in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors.