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7 inmates charged in Weber County Jail drug investigation

By Rob Nielsen - | Sep 1, 2023

BEN DORGER, Standard-Examiner file photo file photo

The Weber County Jail and sheriff's office in Ogden is pictured Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019.

OGDEN -- Several charges have been filed in connection with an investigation into drug distribution at the Weber County Jail.

KSL.com reported Thursday that seven inmates at the jail have been charged in a case stemming from an investigation that led to the the arrest of corrections employee Jennica Lee Massie in July.

The Weber Morgan Narcotics Strike Force and Ogden Metro Gang Task Force have both been conducting the investigation into the distribution of Suboxone -- a drug used in the treatment of opioid addiction -- in the jail.

The Standard-Examiner reached out to officials at the Weber County Sheriff's Office and Weber County Jail but was told no new information could be shared.

According to KSL, those newly charged in the case include:

  • Brian Steven Hammerle, 40, who was charged with 21 criminal counts and allegedly managed the distribution of drugs. He is charged with engaging in continuing criminal enterprise (first-degree felony) and 17 counts of distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance (12 first-degree felonies and five second-degree felonies). He also faces charges of obstructing justice, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and tampering with a witness.
  • Penny Candy Hughes, 47, is charged with four counts of distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance and obstructing justice.
  • Melissa Michelle Hammerle, 37, is charged with three counts of distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance and obstructing justice. She is married to Brian Hammerle.
  • Jose Luis Sandoval, 26, has been charged with four counts of distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance.
  • Brent Levi Vigil, 33, is charged with four counts of distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance.
  • Camilla Rose Iorg, 25, has been charged with two counts of distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance.
  • Benjamin Leo Zavala-Magana, 20, has been charged with distributing, offering or arranging distribution of a controlled substance.

Several others are reportedly under investigation at this time.

In July, Massie was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute in a correctional facility following an investigation by the Weber County Attorney's Office that had initiated in April. The Standard-Examiner reported at the time that three other employees had been placed on administrative leave and an investigation would be launched into the extent of the distribution of drugs within the jail and to what extent the problem had grown.

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