Five people accused of plotting to smuggle drugs into the downtown Portland jail were indicted in March, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.

Levi Denison, Rain Vaday, Shawn Mastne, Shelby Steelman and Danielle Young worked from inside and outside the jail, hatching a plan late last year to bring methamphetamine, suboxone and heroin into the jail, the sheriff’s office said.

All five were charged with conspiring to supply contraband and commit unlawful delivery of various drugs, according to the March indictment. The indictment also charges Denison with promoting prostitution, conspiring to promote prostitution and aggravated identity theft.

Detectives opened the investigation last December, monitoring Denison, 30, who was in custody at the time.

Denison allegedly conspired with the four others through telecommunications in November to smuggle in the drugs, according to the March indictment.

One of the alleged conspirators Mastne, 33, was in custody for part of the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.

Denison was being held on a range of charges including unlawful possession of methamphetamine and criminal mischief. Mastne was facing charges of fourth-degree assault and criminal trespass. Mastne later pleaded guilty to those charges.

Officials found Mastne with at least 10 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine at the time of the alleged smuggling plot, according to a separate, earlier indictment.

Vaday, 26, Steelman, 27, and Young, 44, communicated with the two men from outside the jail, the sheriff’s office alleges. Steelman was indicted in February on separate charges including possession of methamphetamine and burglary, court records show.

The sheriff’s office claims that officers stopped the effort before the group could bring the drugs into the jail.

In 2023, Multnomah County saw an unprecedented number of people die in custody, often from drug-related causes. The estate of one of the men who died that year has threatened to sue the county, alleging medical staff failed to get him help as he died of a fentanyl overdose in his jail cell.

— Sujena Soumyanath is a reporter on The Oregonian/OregonLive’s public safety team. You can reach her at 503-221-4309 or ssoumyanath@oregonian.com.