Correctional Officer, inmates, among five charged in scheme to smuggle drugs into facility

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility correctional officer, two detainees, a defendant released from the Wyatt due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and another person have been charged by way of federal criminal complaints for their alleged participation in a scheme to smuggle Suboxone into the Central Falls facility, announced Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus.

It is alleged in court documents that, in early and mid-February, two inmates housed at the Wyatt Detention Center, Emmanuel Nolasco, 34, and Matthew Pizarro, 32, communicated with former detainee Roosevelt Dale, 32, of Providence, and Yahaira Cristina Contreras, 29, of Providence, to arrange to provide Suboxone strips to correctional officer Kaii Almeida-Falcones, 25, who then smuggled the Suboxone inside the facility. Dale had been released from the Wyatt in May 2020, after claiming he was at heightened risk to contract Covid-19.

According to Court documents, on February 15, members of the Wyatt Detention Center Professional Standards Unit searched Nolasco’s cell and seized approximately 70 loose strips and a “brick” of 100 strips of Suboxone. Later that day, Almeida-Falcones was placed on paid leave and told by Wyatt Detention Center administrators not to return to the facility until advised to do so. Kaii Almeida-Falcones, Emmanuel Nolasco, Matthew Pizarro, Roosevelt Dale, and Yahaira Cristina Contreras are charged by way of federal criminal complaints with drug trafficking and providing contraband in prison.

Almeida-Falcones, Contreras, and Dale were arrested Friday morning by members of the FBI and United States Marshals Service, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General and appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan. Dale was ordered detained. Almeida-Falcones and Contreras were released on conditions.

Emmanuel Nolasco remains detained at the Wyatt Detention Center awaiting trial in an unrelated matter. Matthew Pizarro is currently incarcerated at United States Penitentiary Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, VA. Both will have court appearances at a later date.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John P. McAdams and Terrence P. Donnelly. The matter was investigated by the FBI, the United States Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, and the Professional Standards Unit at the Wyatt Detention Center.