A Providence woman has been sentenced for her role in a conspiracy to smuggle contraband into the Wyatt Detention Center. Yahaira Cristina Contreras, 32, was given two years of federal supervised release, with the first six months to be served under home detention with GPS monitoring. She was also fined $1,500. Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom announced the sentence.
Contreras admitted to conspiring with others in early 2021 to provide 201 suboxone strips containing buprenorphine that were smuggled into the facility through a correctional officer. She confessed to transferring $3,000 from her bank account to another person's account as part of the scheme.
U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose imposed Contreras' sentence.
In a related case, former Wyatt Detention Center correctional officer Kaii Almeida-Falcones, 30, from Smithfield, pleaded guilty on June 10, 2024, to providing contraband to an inmate. He received a sentence of six months in federal prison followed by twenty-four months of federal supervised release, with the first six months on home confinement.
Assistant United States Attorney Ly T. Chin prosecuted both cases.
The investigation involved several agencies including 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.