In one, drug lab technician Sonja Farak was caught tampering with evidence so she could steal hard drugs for personal use. Farak testified that she started off trying meth in the lab because she was curious. She confessed that back in college shed research drugs and noted that meth sounded like one she was especially interested in trying. While not reporting, he enjoys long-distance running. Faraks findings, and occasional testimony at court about her testing, was used as proof to convict the person who had been arrested. Farak pleaded guilty to four counts of tampering with evidence, four counts of theft of a controlled substance from an authorized dispensary, and two counts of possession of cocaine in 2014. (The Massachusetts 2017 group exoneration involving chemist Annie Dookhan took place at the main lab.) After high school, Sonja went on to major in biochemistry at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in western Massachusetts. Farak was a former lab chemist at a lab in Amherst, Massachusetts and was convicted of stealing and using drugs from the lab where she worked. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. These simple statements can be easily overlooked, which is why it is important that audiences are aware of the impact that these women had on criminal justice history. Its unclear if she still owns the property and if she lives there now. As the docuseries represents, she confessed to a therapist in 2009 that she had been striving with addiction problems since 2005. One of the reasons for the decrepit state and standard of the Amherst lab was the lack of funds. My findings, conclusions and credibility determinations above and below reflect that Kaczmarek not only failed to do this; she actively misled others in the AGO as to what had been produced to the DAOs.. Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. After searching her work station, they found a vial of oxycodone and 11.7 grams of cocaine, along with kits to use crack. Three former Massachusetts assistant attorneys general all engaged in misconduct while investigating a state drug lab scandal involving disgraced former-chemist Sonja Farak, according to the . 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Sonja had been smoking crack on her lunch break and was asked to take a drug test, which tested positive. According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Farak graduated with awards and distinctions. According to the news release from the attorney generals office, workers at the Amherst laboratory contacted state police on Friday to report a discrepancy in the controlled substance inventory held in evidence. 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(413) 586-4800lryan@strhlaw.com, DanielN. Marx Please limit your input to 500 characters. Netflixs How to Fix a Drug Scandal Story: 5 Fast Facts. Massachusetts authorities are reviewing the sentences of 1,140 people who are in prison after being convicted with evidence at least partly provided by Dookhan. Between Farak and Annie Dookhan, over 47,000 drug convictions were overturned, sending them to retrials. Money Heist season 5 on Netflix: Will there be a La Casa de Papel part 5? The T-shirtreferencesthe popular television show, Law and Order, but instead of saying Law and Order, it says Flaw and Order, with Mass Exoneration Unitunderneath. "It was Defendant who had the responsibility within the AGO [attorney general's office] to see that the Farak investigation materials were disseminated to the DAOs [district attorneys' offices]," Robertson wrote, adding there is no evidence anyone from the attorney general's office sent the potentially exculpatory evidence to those offices.". 2023 Cable News Network. The responsibility of the mess that she created should also rest upon the shoulders of her workplace that allowed her the opportunity to indulge so freely in drugs in the first place. RELATED:The 10 Best Football Movies Ever Made, According to Rotten Tomatoes. You can try, Suspensions and a reprimand proposed for prosecutors admonished in drug lab scandal. [1] The premise revolves around documentary filmmaker Erin Lee Carr following the effects of crime drug lab chemists Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan and their tampering with evidence and its aftereffects. In high school, Farak became the first girl to play high school football in the state of Rhode Island and made local headlines. According to a Rolling Stone profile on Farak and the case, the former chemist has not been heard from since her release. A second Massachusetts state . On its face, the allegations against this chemist do not implicate the reliability of testing done or fairness to defendants.. General drug lab cases information. How to Fix a Drug Scandal 's four episodes break down how chemists Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan tampered with evidence from tens of thousands of cases. However, throughout her time at the lab, Sonja was habitually abusing these substances for personal use and carried out her role whilst high on liquid methamphetamine, cocaine, LSD and even crack. She suffered from substance misuse disorder and she was in the worst kind of place to try to combat that, defense attorney Luke Ryan, He went to bat for clients who were influenced by both Farak and Dookhans misconduct. A Warner Bros. 100 Main Street, Third Floor How does Jon Taffer Feb 1, 2023. The documentary's director Erin Lee Carr revealed to Women's Health that she had actually met with Sonja to discuss the four-part series. Sonja Farak, 35, has been accused of mishandling drug evidence, the attorney general's office said Sunday. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Something went wrong, please try again later. In Massachusetts it doesn't even end there. Shortly into her role at Amherst, Farak decided to try liquid methamphetamine to ease her personal struggles. Rick Sobey is a multimedia, general assignment reporter -- covering breaking news, politics and more across the region. Farak started her drug use by experimenting with liquid methamphetamine, but her addiction quickly becomes a habit and she started consuming other drugs such as cocaine, and crack, which she smoked in her drug labs bathroom, per Rolling Stone. Robertson rejected Kaczmarek's claims she should not be held responsible for the turning over of exculpatory evidence because she was not part of the "prosecution team" in Penate's case. Massachusetts could get another snowstorm Friday: What areas were the jackpot zones in this past storm? In the documentary, an actress plays Sonja Farak for B-roll scenes, and that actress is Shannon ONeill. She disclosed to her therapist that all the drugs she was consuming came from her workplace. The surveillance of the chemists as well as the standards and the confiscated drugs has also been increased considerably. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Suggestions are presented as an open option list only when they are available. WilliamW. Fick They wrote that Lee, disabled by a stew of mental ailments, [spent] her hours surfing the Web in a haze.. When Ryan found out Farak was high when she conducted those tests, he knew it was time to fight. In the documentary, Heather Harris, a forensic chemist, states that drug chemists don't make for compelling television. Sonja Farak pleaded guilty to stealing samples of drugs from an Amherst drug lab. Where is Sonja now? She was discharged in 2015 and has kept a low profile since. Sonja Farak is the subject of Netflix's "How To Fix a Drug Scandal." Netflix. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. More than 24,000 convictions in 16,449 cases tainted by former state chemist Sonja Farak have been dismissed in a court case brought by the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Committee of Public Counsel Services (CPCS), and law firm Fick & Marx LLP. [5] The actions of both women, who acted independently, resulted in tens of thousands of drug counts being dismissed, the largest single mass dismissal of criminal cases in U.S. When she got married, it turned out that her wife, too, suffered from her own demons, and their collective anguish made Sonja desperate for a reprieve from this life. While Dookhan spoiled evidence in the favor of the prosecution, Farak smoked it. She received the American Institute of Chemists Award in her final year as well as a Crimson and Gray Award from the school a year before, which recognized her dedication, commitment and unselfishness in the enrichment of student life at WPI. A Rolling Stone piece on Farak also indicated that she graduated with high distinction from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 2. In 2019, she was seen leaving the Springfield Federal Court but declined to comment on the status of the case. 2. This arrest comes just three months after the arrest of Annie Dookhan, a former Massachusetts chemist at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory in Jamaica Plain, who is charged with obstruction of justice, mishandling of drug evidence and lying about holding a masters degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts. Over 40,000 drug convictions were excluded due to Annie Dookhan and Sonja Faraks criminal misconduct (both were sentenced for their crimes). Sonja Farak was released on parole in 2016 and has remained out of the spotlight ever since. Release year: 2020. Documentary series How To Fix a Drug Scandal follows crime drug lab chemists Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan and how each of their own unique levels of misconduct impacted thousands of cases and resulted in chaos for the legal system. After serving for 13 months, she was released on parole in 2015. You can find copies of the Dookhan Notice Letterbelow. Two Massachusetts drug-testing laboratory technicians are caught tampering with and falsifying drug evidence, and prosecutors are reluctant to disclose the full extent of their criminal behavior. Updated Her role was to test for the presence of illegal substances, which could be instrumental in thousands of . Sonja Farak in the dock after her arrest for stealing drugs Credit: AP:Associated Press. According to IMDb, shes appeared in HBOs High Maintenance and will star as Angie in Make America Bake Again, which is currently in production. In 2018, all of the criminal convictions more than 10,000 that Farak worked on were dismissed. Lets find out. Netflixs How to Fix a Drug Scandal tells the story of two women whose actions brought to light the negligence of the system that is supposed to deliver justice to everyone. Carr weaves Farak's story into that of another Massachusetts chemist, Annie Dookhan, who worked across the state at the Hinton drug lab in Boston. Luke Ryan Photo: Netflix "How to Fix a Drug Scandal" documents the riveting details about how a . Since most drug chemists spend most of their time testing evidence, it doesn't make sense to showcase a chemist sitting at a bench, doing their work, when most of the exciting parts are actually catching the criminals. She is a decent height with good physical . Only a few months after Dookhan's conviction, it was discovered that another Massachusetts crime lab worker, Sonja Farak, who was addicted to drugs . The drug lab technician was sent to prison for 18 months, but was released in 2015. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. During her trial, her defense lawyer Elaine Pourinski said that Farak wasnt taking drugs to party, but instead to control her depression. She is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday morning in Eastern Hampshire District Court. Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Arabic, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Chinese, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Haitian, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Portuguese, Notice of Rights to Challenge Conviction:Spanish, Notice of Rights to Challenge Conviction:Haitian Creole, Notice of Rights to Challenge Conviction:Khmer, Notice of Rights to Challenge Conviction:Portuguese, Notice of Rights to Challenge Conviction:Vietnamese, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Spanish, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Arabic, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Chinese, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Haitian Creole, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Khmer, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Portuguese, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Russian, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice:Vietnamese, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants talks about your rights in this informational video, Stacy Foster et al vs. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Settlement, contact the Executive Office of the Trial Court. To find out if your case was affected by either Ms. Dookhan or Ms. Farak, you can call a toll-free hotline operated by defense lawyers with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the public defender agency in Massachusetts. According to the ACLU, she became a voice for the ACLU in 2012, which is right around the time when the Sonja Farak case exploded. Here are 10 things everyone completely missed in Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal. No shot is filmed on accident. YouTube Kaczmarek has repeatedly testified she did not act intentionally and that she thought the worksheets had been turned over to the district attorneys who prosecuted the cases involved. And yet, due to their actions, they did injure people and they did inflict a lot of pain, not just on a couple of people, but on thousands. How to Fix a Drug Scandal is an American true crime documentary miniseries that was released on Netflix on April 1, 2020. 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