Wyatt Detention Center Inmate Sentenced for Possessing 8-Inch Shank in Prison

Wyatt Detention Center Inmate Sentenced for Possessing 8-Inch Shank in Prison

A Wyatt Detention Center inmate has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a gun, and a concurrent term of 24 months in federal prison for attempting to possess a controlled substance and possession an 8-inch shank while detained.

Jason Jones, 25, was also ordered to serve two years supervised release upon completion of his prison term by U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell.

The Investigation

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According to information presented to the Court, in July 2017, Newport Police Department detectives arrested Jones when, during a pre-arranged meeting to sell an individual a firearm, Jones, a convicted felon, was found to be in possession of a loaded semi-automatic handgun.

On July 18, 2017, Jones was charged by way of a federal indictment with felon in possession of a firearm, and he subsequently pled guilty to that charge. In November 2018, Jones was ordered detained at the Wyatt Detention Facility for violating conditions of his release.

While Jones was detained at the Wyatt Detention Center, the U.S. Marshals Service notified the FBI that Jones was believed to be conspiring to smuggle drugs into the facility.

An outgoing letter sent by Jones to his girlfriend, Joselin Tavarez, 45, of Providence, and obtained by the FBI, included instructions on how to put what was believed to be strips of suboxone on incoming mail. Jones directed her to make the mail appear to be legal mail coming from his attorney, then an Assistant Federal Defender. Additionally, during several prison telephone conversations, Jones also instructed his girlfriend to send contraband into the facility.

At the request of the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Rhode Island Department of Health analyzed several items of incoming mail addressed to Jones, three of which were confirmed to contain MMB-FUBINACA, a Schedule I controlled substance.

Additionally, in February 2019, during a search of Jones’ cell and mattress, guards discovered an 8-inch shank tucked inside a slit in the mattress.

Tavarez, signed a plea agreement, and has been charged by way of an information with providing and attempting to provide a prohibited object, a Scheduled I controlled substance, to an inmate of a prison.

Her change of plea has yet to be scheduled.