3 arrested after California prison worker exposed to tainted envelope dies, DOJ says

Three people have been arrested in connection to the death of a prison employee at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.

A prison mail room correctional officer died after falling sick Aug. 9 in what investigators said was traced back to an envelope laced with a controlled substance, a news release said.

Investigators said the envelope was part of a conspiracy to send controlled narcotics marked as legal mail into the prison for distribution.

The investigation into the alleged scheme led to the arrests of a man held in the prison — Jamar Jones, 35 — and two from outside, Stephanie Ferreira, 35, of Evansville, Indiana; and Jermen Rudd III, 37, of Wentzville, Missouri, the release said.

A correctional officer who worked in the mail room, Marc Fischer, died at a Merced-area hospital after feeling unwell inside the prison. He had handled mail that investigators said was laced with a substance, the DOJ said in a news release Tuesday.

An Associated Press report from earlier this month described him as a mail room employee. The DOJ called him a correctional officer.

A second officer also reported feeling sick after handling mail but recovered, prosecutors said.

Ferreira was set to be arraigned in Indiana, while Rudd would be in Missouri, the DOJ said in the release. Jones was expected to appear in court in Fresno next week though a date was not immediately available.

Each one of them faces more than 20 years in prison and fines if convicted, prosecutors said.