WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) – A Massachusetts attorney and three other people are facing charges in connection with an alleged scheme to smuggle drugs into a Rhode Island prison, officials announced Tuesday.
Theresa DiJoseph, 50, of Woburn was charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, providing a prohibited object to an inmate, and making a false statement, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.
The US Attorney’s Office said authorities arrested DiJoseph on Tuesday morning. She was expected to appear in court later in the day.
Hanasa Stedford, 21, of Hamden, Conn. was also arrested on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and providing a prohibited object to an inmate.
Already inmates at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island Shawn Hart, 46, and Samuel Douglas, 26, were similarly charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and providing a prohibited object to an inmate, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Citing charging documents, prosecutors said correctional officers first filed an incident report after they saw DiJoseph acting suspicious and monitoring their movements while visiting Hart at the Wyatt Facility in July 2023.
Prosecutors said DiJoseph had used her credentials as an attorney to meet with Hart in a visiting room without a plexiglass screen.
As an investigation got underway, the US Attorney’s Office said authorities found text messages between DiJoseph and Hart on a prison-issued tablet that included personal photos of DiJoseph and screenshots of Cash App or sports-betting transactions “that she appeared to have engaged in on Hart’s behalf.”
DiJoseph was temporarily banned from having the kind of visits with Hart that she had in July 2023 but was later allowed to resume visits, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
A matter of months after the initial…