Three charged in Atwater prison meth smuggling effort

ATWATER -- A federal grand jury has indicted three people suspected of trying to smuggle methamphetamine into U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento reported.

Jacob Belford, 29, originally from Reno; James Brooks, 26, originally from Lufkin, Texas; and Sophia Kiiti, 26, of Reno are charged in the five-count indictment.

Belford and Brooks are inmates. Federal prosecutors said they conspired with Kiiti to have meth mailed to themselves and another inmate. Kiiti is accused of concealing the meth under a label on correspondence sent to the prison.

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.