3 Charged After Death of Federal Correctional Officer Who Opened Drug-Laced Mail Sent to Inmate [Video]

Three people have been charged after the death of a federal correctional officer who opened drug-laced mail sent to an inmate, authorities said.

Jamar Jones, 35, an inmate at U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, Calif., Stephanie Ferreira, 35, of Evansville, Ind., and Jermen Rudd III, 37, of Wentzville, Mo., were charged on Tuesday, Aug. 20, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said in a press release.

The trio are accused of conspiring to mail drugs into the high-security penitentiary for Jones to sell. As part of that scheme, Jones and Ferreira allegedly had Rudd mail a letter laced with drugs to Jones that was fraudulently labeled as “legal mail,” per the release.

On Aug. 9, a correctional officer — identified only as M.F. in a criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE — opened that letter and minutes later began to feel sick. “I don’t feel good, it’s going up my arm, I …