Three Gainesville men are among 17 people charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with an alleged drug trafficking ring that operated inside the walls of multiple Georgia prisons with the use of contraband cellphones around June 2014.

Jose Rolando Ramos Remez, 25, and Yony Israel Yanes Padilla, 26, are accused of taking part in the drug trafficking from outside the prison. Each man is charged with conspiring to distribute at least 500 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, possessing meth with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Georgia Department of Corrections parolee Ruben Antonio Ruiz, a 36-year-old also known as “Scrappy” or “Flaco,” also allegedly took part in the trafficking from outside of prison. He has been charged with conspiring to distribute at least 50 grams of meth and possessing meth with intent to distribute.

Three inmates are charged with being involved from inside prison walls: Francisco Palacios Baras, 36, an inmate in Sparta also known as “Chapparro,” “Shorty” and “Kiko”; Johnathan Corey McLoon, 30, an inmate in Valdosta also known as “Drop”; and Christopher Wayne Hildebrand, 33, an inmate in Savannah.

All three of those inmates are charged with conspiring to distribute at least 50 grams of meth, while Baras faces 11 charges of possessing meth with intent to distribute. McLoon is charged with two counts of meth possession with intent to distribute, and Hildebrand faces one charge of possessing meth with intent to distribute.

Assistant United States Attorney Tasheika Hinson is the prosecutor on the case.