Connecticut woman charged in scheme to smuggle contraband into Rhode Island detention facility

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A Hamden woman and three others, including a Massachusetts attorney, were arrested Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a scheme to smuggle contraband into the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Mass., U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha announced .

Charging documents allege that Theresa M. DiJoseph, 50, of Woburn, Mass., used her credentials to meet with an inmate, Shawn David Hart, 46, for a contact visit on July 9, 2023. These visits, which do not include a plexiglass screen, are typically used by attorneys to conduct legal work approved by the detention center, according to prosecutors.

DiJoseph reportedly requested a specific room for their visit, citing discomfort with the other rooms. After the visit, Wyatt correctional officers filed two incident reports regarding DiJoseph’s “suspicious” behavior.

Staff reviewed messages on a Wyatt-issued tablet that allegedly showed DiJoseph sent personal photos to Hart, along with Cash App screenshots and sports betting transactions she carried out on his behalf.

According to the court affidavit, DiJoseph claimed she was doing probate work for Hart and visited him four times during a two-week period because she felt bad for him. Cunha said she was then barred from contact visits with Hart for about five months but was later allowed to resume them.

On Dec. 1, 2023, before a contact visit with Hart, a correctional officer confiscated 10 pieces of paper from DiJoseph that appeared discolored, thicker than normal, and previously wet and dried, court documents state. FBI lab testing revealed that the papers had residue of synthetic cannabinoids.

Further text messages between the pair showed that DiJoseph planned to meet another woman during the visit.

Three days earlier, 26-year-old detainee Samuel Douglas arranged for his girlfriend, 21-year-old Hanasa Stedford of Hamden, Conn., to meet DiJoseph outside the detention center to collect the seized papers, court documents allege .

Surveillance cameras captured the meetup and exchange of a manila folder between Stedford and DiJoseph.

The video also showed DiJoseph with the papers in the Wyatt lobby. When questioned, she stated she “had picked the sheets up from her printer and just brought them here.”

On Jan. 10, DiJoseph and Hart discussed the confiscated papers over text. DiJoseph expressed her frustration and suggested writing to the warden to explain her ignorance of the papers’ contents. Hart advised her to try, noting that similar incidents happen to lawyers frequently.

Later that day, DiJoseph emailed Wyatt’s warden, claiming she needed to assist Hart with a custody issue. The affidavit states she wrote, “I was absolutely horrified and disgusted that there were papers inside my client’s file that I was completely unaware were in there,” and further insisted she had “no idea that a drug could be put on paper.”

In May, FBI agents interviewed DiJoseph at her home. She claimed she had a fee agreement with Hart, but he never paid her, according to the affidavit.

Regarding the Dec. 1 visit, she said the paperwork seized by correctional officers was case law related to capital murder. When asked where the paperwork came from, she told agents she had printed some materials at a Staples store earlier that day but could not recall the location or provide a receipt.

Court documents show DiJoseph continuously changed her story about the papers, the Dec. 1 visit and her relationship with Hart. Additionally, DiJoseph told agents she and Hart had discussed having an intimate relationship but denied any actions due to her marriage and his girlfriend.

DiJoseph is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, providing a prohibited object to an inmate, and making a false statement. Stedford and the two Wyatt detainees are charged with conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute and providing a prohibited object to an inmate.

DiJoseph and Stedford were both due to appear in court on Tuesday.

Hart is currently detained at Wyatt while awaiting trial on drug and firearm charges out of Massachusetts. Douglas is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy in Connecticut. Both will appear in court on the new charges at a later date.

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