Photo: U.S. District Court in Providence
WOBURN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Massachusetts attorney has been charged with allegedly smuggling marijuana-soaked papers into a Rhode Island prison, according to the U.S. District Court in Providence.
On Tuesday, authorities announced that 50-year-old Theresa M. DiJoseph of Woburn, Mass. is facing multiple charges for her alleged involvement in a drug smuggling scheme at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility (Wyatt) in Central Falls, R.I. DiJoseph is charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, providing a prohibited object to an inmate, and making a false statement.
21-year-old Hanasa Stedford of Hamden, Conn., and detainees 46-year-old Shawn D. Hart and 26-year-old Samuel Douglas were also charged in connection to the scheme.
When DiJoseph visited Wyatt to meet with Hart on July 9, 2023, correctional officers filed an incident report on DiJoseph because she was “found to be acting suspicious and monitoring the correctional officer’s movements.” Hart had been at Wyatt while awaiting trial on drug and firearm offenses.
Officers then reviewed text messages between DiJoseph and Hart on a Wyatt-issued tablet, allegedly revealing “personal photos” DiJoseph sent to Hart, as well as sports-betting transactions that “she appeared to have engaged in on Hart’s behalf.” She was temporarily barred from contact visits with Hart but was later allowed to continue.
While trying to visit Hart on Dec. 1, 2023, Wyatt correctional officers confiscated 10 sheets of paper that “appeared discolored, thicker than normal, and to have been wet and dried.” When sent to an FBI testing lab, authorities said the papers tested positive for synthetic marijuana.
According to court documents, Dijoseph was allegedly given the papers by Hanasa Stedford, the girlfriend of detainee Samuel Douglas, outside of Wyatt.
DiJoseph and Stedford were expected to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Providence on Tuesday, while Hart and Douglas will be arraigned on a later date.
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