Federal authorities announced on Tuesday that four individuals, including a lawyer from Massachusetts, have been charged in relation to an alleged plot to smuggle synthetic marijuana into a jail in Rhode Island.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Rhode Island has reported that Theresa DiJoseph, a resident of Woburn, was apprehended early Tuesday, along with the alleged accomplice who supplied her with illegal substances. The confiscated items were identified as legal documents that had been saturated with synthetic marijuana.
According to court documents, DiJoseph texted the inmate she was supposed to meet with at Wyatt Detention Facility on Dec. 1, expressing her shock and disorientation after they found papers with drugs on them. “I feel so so light headed and messed up,” she wrote.
According to reports, the 50-year-old claimed that a correctional officer had to undergo an evaluation after handling the paperwork. He went on to express his frustration by stating, “I am not even able to drive”.
On Tuesday, no one answered the phone number listed for DiJoseph. The charges against her include intent to distribute a controlled substance, providing a prohibited object to an inmate, and making a false statement. She was scheduled to appear in front of a federal judge in Providence on Tuesday.
According to the federal criminal complaint, it appears that DiJoseph and the inmate, Shawn Hart, who is facing drug possession charges in Massachusetts, were involved in a romantic relationship based on the messages they exchanged several months prior. DiJoseph apparently confessed to investigators that she had developed feelings for Hart and that they had discussed the possibility of being intimate, despite both having partners.
In July of last year, DiJoseph’s behavior during a visit raised suspicion, prompting a review of their communications. The investigation revealed that she had been placing sports bets on behalf of Hart and sending him photos. Court documents show that she was initially restricted from having in-person visits with Hart without plexiglass, but that restriction was lifted in November.
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According to court documents, security cameras captured DiJoseph meeting with the girlfriend of a detainee from Wyatt in Connecticut prior to his visit on December 1st. The messages between the two parties reveal that they were coordinating a drop-off.
Upon her arrival at the jail, DiJoseph was required to sign a form acknowledging the prohibition against bringing in drugs, as stated in the complaint. However, when an officer inspected the manila folders she brought along with her, he was observed sniffing one and immediately alerted his supervisor.
According to the complaint, the supervisor concluded that ten sheets had been saturated with synthetic marijuana, commonly called K2, each of which could fetch a price of $1,000 to $4,000. The paperwork was later confirmed to contain synthetic marijuana by an FBI laboratory.
When questioned about the papers, DiJoseph reportedly claimed that she had simply collected them from her printer and brought them to the facility. However, when informed that she could not proceed with the visit, and while the correctional officer who had come into contact with the papers was receiving medical attention, she asked, “Okay, I understand, but how long will this last? When will this feeling go away? I can’t drive like this.”
According to the criminal complaint, DiJoseph messaged Hart about the papers shortly after the incident and again a few days later. When Hart reached out to her on December 4th to inquire about the paperwork, DiJoseph allegedly replied, “Honestly honey. I didn’t see them or know that I touched them. I have no clue how many were there. Maybe 4? That’s my best guess. When he held the pages up, they were a different color. My letterhead I use is a different color too. I’ve got no explanation. I should’ve seen that, but [the correctional officer’s] reaction to it? How did I handle it without the same reaction?”
During the interview, DiJoseph reportedly gave inconsistent versions of the meeting, but ultimately admitted that Hart had given her the contact details and that she expected some sort of repayment from him after his release from jail.
