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Mass. attorney, 3 others charged in scheme to smuggle contraband into Wyatt Detention Center

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PBN Staff

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07/30/2024

Wyatt — A MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY along with two inmates and a Connecticut woman have face federal charges for their alleged participation in a scheme to smuggle contraband into the Wyatt Detention Center, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Chuna announced Tuesday. / COURTESY DONALD W. WYATT DETENTION FACILITY

CENTRAL FALLS – A Massachusetts attorney, two inmates and a Connecticut woman face federal charges for their alleged participation in a scheme to smuggle contraband into the Wyatt Detention Center, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Chuna announced Tuesday. Attorney Theresa M. DiJoseph, 50, of Woburn, Mass., is charged with possession with intent to

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CENTRAL FALLS – A Massachusetts attorney, two inmates and a Connecticut woman face federal charges for their alleged participation in a scheme to smuggle contraband into the Wyatt Detention Center, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Chuna announced Tuesday. Attorney Theresa M. DiJoseph, 50, of Woburn, Mass., is charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, providing a prohibited object to an inmate and making a false statement; Hanasa Stedford, 21, of Hamden, Conn., and Wyatt Center detainees Shawn D. Hart, 46, and Samuel Douglas, 26, are each charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and providing a prohibited object to an inmate. During a visit to Wyatt on July 9, 2023, DiJoseph used her credentials as an attorney to meet with Hart in a contact visiting room that does not include a plexiglass screen sometimes used for attorney visits to conduct legal work, according to court documents. Correctional officers later filed an incident report when DiJoseph was found to be acting suspicious and monitoring the correctional officer’s movements. A review of messages sent between DiJoseph and Hart on a Wyatt-issued tablet allegedly revealed that DiJoseph had sent Hart personal photos of herself and screenshots showing Cash App or sports-betting transactions that she appeared to have engaged in on Hart’s behalf. DiJoseph was temporarily prohibited from contact visits with Hart, but later allowed to resume visits. On Dec. 1, 2023, during an attempted visit with Hart, Wyatt correctional officers seized from DiJoseph 10 sheets of paper that appeared discolored, thicker than normal, and to have been wet and dried, consistent with papers soaked in synthetic marijuana. FBI testing lab that confirmed the presence of Schedule 1 controlled substances in the seized papers. Charging documents allege Douglas arranged for his girlfriend, Stedford, to meet with DiJoseph outside of the detention center and to provide DiJoseph with the contaminated papers that were seized from DiJoseph. DiJoseph and Stedford were arrested Monday and were scheduled to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Providence later in the day. Hart, detained at the Wyatt Detention Facility while awaiting trial on drug and firearm charges in Massachusetts, and Douglas, who is awaiting sentencing in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., having pleaded guilty in April 2024 to a charge of racketeering conspiracy, will make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Providence at a later date.