Farak, a chemist, was later convicted of stealing drugs from the state lab in Amherst. In 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court dismissed an additional 16,000 drug convictions because of former chemist Sonja Farak's malfeasance at the State Laboratory Institute in Amherst (Amherst Drug Lab) between 2004 and 2013. As How to Fix a Drug Scandal explores, Farak had long struggled with her mental . After she was caught, Farak pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from the lab and was sentenced to prison time of 18 months. I felt euphoric, Kogan wrote of Farak. In one scene, theres an ACLU poster, and on it is a woman that looks eerily similar to actress and producer, Olivia Wilde. She was convicted to 18 months behind bars, followed by five years of probation and 500 hours of community services, the same year. Sonja Farak's stature. Massachusetts chemist accused of tampering with evidence, drug possession, Sonja Farak took heroin, cocaine from evidence inventory, attorney general alleges, Another chemist was accused of tampering, affecting 34,000 drug cases, in October. . post office box as her contact information. According to a newspaper article from 1992, she was the first female in Rhode Island to be on a high school football team. The place was closed as soon as Faraks crimes came to light. Most of entertainment usually involves male characters or people in some way as the key players of a story, but this documentary shows that that isn't always the case. Sonja Farak was born in San Diego, California and within a year her family shifted to Newport, Rhode Island after her Navy father was transferred to the east coast. In 2019, she was seen leaving the Springfield Federal Court but declined to comment on the status of the case. It is still unknown whether the accusations against Farak will jeopardize other drug cases, and this most recent investigation is ongoing and is being treated separately from Dookhans. Something went wrong, please try again later. In 2017, Rolando Penate filed a $5.7 million lawsuit against 18 defendants, including Farak. Where is Sonja now? Northampton, MA 01060 Director Alex Gibney of Jigsaw Productions has been called "one of the most important documentarians of our time" by Esquire, and even The New York Times gave Gibney their praise. Although she establish a passion for science, graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and landed a job at the Amherst state drug lab, Farak still felt alien and unseen, a ghost floating through her own life, per Rolling Stone. You can try, Suspensions and a reprimand proposed for prosecutors admonished in drug lab scandal. She was convicted to 18 months behind bars, followed by five years of probation and 500 hours of community services, the same year. 24 Federal Street, 4th Floor Instead, all such relief must now be sought through the pending class action lawsuit, Stacey Foster v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, et al, provided that the claimant meetsthe criteria to qualify as a member of the class. In one instance, it appeared that Farak had removed a substance from a case that had previously tested positive for cocaine and replaced it with a counterfeit substance that no longer tested positive, the release said. For How to Fix a Drug Scandal, the story is about two women who start the scandals. Sonja Farak was a chemist for a state crime lab in Massachusetts. Did you encounter any technical issues? Its unclear if Farak is still with Lee, as they have both remained out of the public eye since the case. Not only was she under the impact of drugs while at work for about nine years, but she was also under the impact when she took the stand in 2013. But it turns out that Farak was really high while running some of those tests. Farak was released from prison in 2015 and has kept a low profile since. In one, drug lab technician Sonja Farak was caught tampering with evidence so she could steal hard drugs for personal use. While this series isn't fiction, it would've passed this infamous test if it was. How to Fix A Drug Scandal is Netflix's latest intriguing documentary series, and these are 10 details everyone missed. Penate's suit said Kaczmarek withheld evidence that Farak used drugs at the lab for longer than the Massachusetts attorney general's office first claimed, and that he would not have been imprisoned based on tainted evidence. According to Matt Segal, Legal Director of ACLU of Massachusetts, the justice system is set up to where it is "so easy to hold onto a wrongful conviction and so hard to overcome it.". The civil lawsuit was one of the last tied to prosecutors' disputedhandling of the case against disgraced ex-chemist Sonja Farak, who was convicted in 2014 of ingesting drug samples she was supposed to test at the Amherst state drug lab. Sonja had been smoking crack on her lunch break and was asked to take a drug test, which tested positive. Farak worked for the Amherst Drug Lab in Massachusetts for 9 years when she was convicted of stealing and using them. A different film might have demonized Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan, showing how their unconscionable behavior sent potentially innocent people to jail, destroying countless lives in the process. Her job was to define whether a substance someone was caught carrying was really cocaine, meth, or something else. Am I somebody who took her personhood? After undertaking a lengthy investigation, his attorney Luke Ryan found out that Farak had been using drugs the same day she ran tests on the substances found on him, thanks to paperwork he discovered noting the date of one of Faraks therapy sessions, where she admitted to have been using that day. This not only led to people getting a reprieve from prison but also filing their own lawsuits against the injustice they had to suffer. Sonja Farak, 35, has been accused of mishandling drug evidence, the attorney general's office said Sunday. Ive been struggling with that, Carr said Its very uncomfortable and I dont know what its been like for her.. A .mass.gov website belongs to an official government organization in Massachusetts. The number is 888-999-2881. NEXT:How To Fix A Drug Scandal True Story: What The Documentary Leaves Out, 10 Things Everyone Completely Missed In Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal, Top 10 Documentaries On Netflix Right Now (According To IMDb), The 10 Best Football Movies Ever Made, According to Rotten Tomatoes, Wicked Good: 10 Great Movies Set In Boston, How To Fix A Drug Scandal True Story: What The Documentary Leaves Out, Yellowstone's Dutton Family Tree Explained In Full, Witcher: Blood Origin Uses One NSFW History Detail Game Of Thrones Avoided, Fraiser Reboot Will Feature Some Original Show Cast Members After All. When Ryan found out Farak was high when she conducted those tests, he knew it was time to fight. (The Massachusetts 2017 group exoneration involving chemist Annie Dookhan took place at the main lab.) The number is. After serving for 13 months, she was released on parole in 2015. "No reasonablejury could conclude that this evidence is not favorable.". 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. "I was smoking in the lab, I was smoking at home. NORTHAMPTON Sonja J. Farak told a nurse at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center in Chicopee in December 2013 that she used methamphetamines and other stimulants "whenever she could get her hands on them." And since her job as a chemist was to test drug samples at a state drug lab in Amherst, that opportunity . While she's gaining traction in the television world, she has much deeper roots in the theater world. As of May 19, 2020, allclaimsfor relief due to an invalidated conviction as a result of the misconduct of Sonya Farak and Annie Dookhancan no longer bebrought through an individual motion process. How to Fix a Drug Scandal: With Shannon O'Neill, Karl Kenzler, Paul Solotaroff, Scott Allen. In high school, Farak became the first girl to play high school football in the state of Rhode Island and made local headlines. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Why did she do that and where has it left her? According to a Rolling Stone piece on Farak, she struggled with depression from an early age, one that hasnt responded to medication. They wrote that Farak attempted suicide in high school and was also hospitalized while in college. This achievement earned her a full page layout in the local paper and some local TV news coverage. 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. I want to be accepted like one of them, Sonja said during the local news segment, included in the docuseries. In her June 17 ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson dismissed former Assistant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek's claims of qualified immunity a doctrine that gives legal immunity to some public officials accused of misconduct. In the civil suit, she filed her own answer to the lawsuit and hired the services of attorney Susan Sachs. Its up to the Board of Bar Overseers about what discipline, if any, should be imposed on the three former prosecutors. They wrote that Lee, disabled by a stew of mental ailments, [spent] her hours surfing the Web in a haze.. Reporter. You know, no special treatment. She shone academically as well. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. The show also examines the state problems while defining and . 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. I mean she could have been my client.. Specifically speaking, she played on the line on offense and defense. She remained a football fan, and loved the Patriots. Yet, the cases of Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhanbecame "one of the largest mass dismissals of criminal convictions in United States history." Published Jul 1, 2020. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a . 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. How to Fix a Drug Scandal is available now on Netflix. She disclosed to her therapist that all the drugs she was consuming came from her workplace. Now the Board of Bar Overseers special hearing officer concluded that there were numerous lapses, oversights, intentional misconduct and rule violations by Kaczmarek, Verner and Foster. Since her release, she has kept a low profile and managed to stay out of the public . In 2004, she was transferred to the Amherst Lab where . After Faraks arrest in 2013, police found pages of mental health worksheets in her car indicating she'd struggled with drug addiction since at least 2011. They wrote that she served 13 months and was paroled sometime in 2015. She was ultimately sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2014. I think shes a good person, she said. Previously to her arrest, Farak lived in Laurel Park, Northampton in Massachusetts. A final decision is still pending and must be approved by the state Supreme Judicial Court. As Solotaroff recounts in detail, Massachusetts attorney Luke Ryan represented two people who were accused of drug charges that Farak had analyzed . Get the latest headlines, releases and insider-gossip direct to your inbox with our Binge-worthy newsletter. Tens of thousands of criminal drug cases were dismissed as a result of misconduct by Dookhan and Farak. This is whenMatt Segal reveals a T-shirt to commemorate their time on this case. The dilemma went beyond Farak, which How to Fix a Drug Scandal deeply explores. 1. A spokesperson for Attorney General Maura Healey said the AG has long been clear that the conduct that occurred during the previous administration was completely unacceptable and her focus has always been making sure the mistakes of the past never happen again., She implemented a clear policy relating to the disclosure of evidence that is covered at mandatory trainings, created an internal ethics committee, and is committed to continually enhancing the offices integrity practices, the spokesperson added. How to Fix A Drug Scandal is Netflix's latest intriguing documentary series, and these are 10 details everyone missed. The new numbers appear in a report issued by a court-designated "Special Master." Where is Farak today? After eight years at the lab, Sonja was finally caught out and arrested for her actions. At the time of her arrest, she had resided in 37 Laurel Park in Northampton. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. While not reporting, he enjoys long-distance running. She was caught with evidence files under her desk, including unsealed envelopes . Kaczmarek argued for qualified immunity after she was sued by Rolando Penate, who spent five years in prison on drug charges in which the evidence in his case was tested by Farak. I was totally controlled by my addiction," she revealed in the documentary. I felt amazing.. A scandal erupts, raising questions for the thousands of defendants in her cases. The day Farak was supposed to analyze the sample, she wrote in her diary, tried to resist [using] @ work but ended up failing, per the Washington Post. Since the takeover, the budget for all forensic labs across the state has been increased, by around twenty-five per cent. Rick is a Massachusetts native and graduated from Boston University. 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.. Dookhan was accused of forging reports and tampering with samples to . They wrote that she served 13 . In episode 3, audiences are introduced to the ACLU and its involvement in the case. Please note that if your case has been identified for dismissal, it could take approximately 2-3 months for the relevant court records to be updated. Between August 2004 and January 2013, chemistSonja Farakengaged in serious misconduct at the state drug lab in Amherst that jeopardized the integrity of thousands of cases, mostly in Western Massachusetts. You can check your records electronically by following this link:https://icori.chs.state.ma.us. 2020 American documentary television mini-series, "How to Fix a Drug Scandal: behind a staggering Netflix crime docuseries", "Inspector General: Dookhan 'Sole Bad Actor' In State Drug Lab Scandal", "24,000 charges tossed because they were tainted by former Amherst lab chemist's misconduct", "Netflix's 'How To Fix A Drug Scandal' Elevates Process Over Personality", "How to Fix a Drug Scandal is the staggering true story of justice gone very wrong", Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, Break it All: The History of Rock in Latin America, Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan, Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer, Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=How_to_Fix_a_Drug_Scandal&oldid=1123661369, 2020s American documentary television series, English-language Netflix original programming, Netflix original documentary television series, Documentary television series about crime in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 November 2022, at 00:02. 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