BEND — Three Oregon jail employees have pleaded not guilty to charges of criminally negligent homicide in connection with an inmate's death.

Deputies Cory Lucinda Skidgel and Michael Christopher Durkan and Cpl. Anthony Joseph Hansen entered the pleas Thursday at their first court appearance since being indicted in the death of 59-year-old James Wippel.

All three were issued a conditional release from jail, The Bulletin reports.

Wippel died April 26, 2017, at the Jefferson County jail in Madras. He'd been arrested two days before on charges of heroin and methamphetamine possession and delivery of heroin. He had been arrested on the same charges a week earlier in Portland, where he lived.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins said shortly after the death that the 59-year-old inmate suffered the serious medical issue a few days after landing in jail. Paramedics arrived to take him to a hospital, but he died at the scene.

The state medical examiner who performed the autopsy told Oregon Public Broadcasting last week that Wippel bled out following a burst ulcer. Prosecutors have yet to say what leads them to believe the employees acted with negligence.

The three cases were presented to a grand jury over two days this month. Thirteen witnesses provided testimony, including a gastroenterologist, law enforcement personnel and the medical examiner.

Criminally negligent homicide carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Since felons lose the right to own a firearm, the defendants would not be allowed to return to police work if found guilty. Sheriff Adkins said they could return if they're found not guilty.

"We'll see how this plays out over the next few months," he said.

Wippel was an only child and never married, said Carroll Gorg, who is married to Wippel's cousin.

Gorg said Wippel grew up in Lake Oswego and fell in the wrong crowd in high school. Although Wippel broke the law throughout his life, he was not a violent man, Gorg said.

"It's really a mystery to me how this could have happened," Gorg said. "If they did indeed cause his death, they should answer for that. An ordinary person doesn't get any break. So I don't think an officer should."

— The Associated Press