After she was caught, Farak pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from the lab and was sentenced to prison time of 18 months. 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. YouTube In order to cover her tracks, per Rolling Stone and the Netflix doc, Farak would add ersatz powder to some of the drug samples she used. The case notoriously involved a rare one . DISTURBING TRUE STORY BEHIND NETFLIXS HOW TO FIX A DRUG SCANDAL AND HOW ONE PERSONS ADDICTION AFFECTED THOUSANDS, Sonja Farak's addiction saw her abuse her position, Sonja would take samples from her colleague's desks too, Sonja Farak's actions affected thousands of drug convictions, Sonja Farak (right) followed the crimes of chemist Annie Dookhan (left). Episode 1. Mass.gov is a registered service mark of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The drug lab technician was sent to prison for 18 months, but was released in 2015. All Rights Reserved. Farak admitted in testimony that she began using drugs almost as soon as she started working at the Massachusetts State Crime Lab in Amherst. We will use this information to improve this page. During her trial, her defense lawyer Elaine Pourinski said that Farak wasnt taking drugs to party, but instead to control her depression. Rick Sobey is a multimedia, general assignment reporter -- covering breaking news, politics and more across the region. Copyright 2023 by Vizaca. Here are 10 things everyone completely missed in Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal. From 2004 to 2013, Farak took benefit of the labs lack of supervision and stole the drugs cops had seized. [2][3], Dookhan was accused of forging reports and tampering with samples to produce desired results. You can check your records electronically by following this link:https://icori.chs.state.ma.us. She was discharged in 2015 and has kept a low profile since. Faraks findings, and occasional testimony at court about her testing, was used as proof to convict the person who had been arrested. Did you encounter any technical issues? Am I somebody who took her personhood? A lock icon ( On January 19, 2013, AGO investigators obtained a warrant to search Farak's car, searched the car, and seized hundreds of pages of paper, including the Diary Card and other mental health worksheets. How to Fix a Drug Scandal premiered on Netflix April 1, and it has told the compelling stories of Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan. That settlement awaits approval by a judge. The filmmaker told that she spent a lot of time thinking about Farak and trying to humanize her. The scandal led to the dismissal of thousands of drug convictions. Carr revealed: "She isn't on drugs anymore, and I think that that is incredible. The disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence was particularly important, the report reads. 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. Authorities also determined that Farak allegedly possessed what appeared to be Class A and B substances, the release said. An ex-lab chemist Sonja Farak's negligence and misdeeds shocked US when she was arrested in 2013 for stealing and using drugs from the lab where she worked. Penate had been arrested in 2011 for selling heroin. While attending college, she met her longtime partner Nikki Lee. 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. Penate argued the court should follow those findings. Previously to her arrest, Farak lived in Laurel Park, Northampton in Massachusetts. 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. 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. Netflix's most original true-crime film: "How to Fix a Drug Crisis," [3] was released on April 1st, 2020. The staff in the new lab was also doubled, and the number of trainees was also increased. In episode 3 of How to Fix a Drug Scandal, theres a shot of a mat with text that says Hi, Im Mat. In the next shot, it shows the educational diplomas of Matt Segal, Legal Director for ACLU of Massachusetts. She really did, at certain times, tried to stop doing this but couldnt.. There were also fewer technicians, which made it manageable for her drug use to go unnoticed. He said he feels she suffered from both a chemical dependency and a psychological dependence to the drugs. I felt euphoric, Kogan wrote of Farak. In 2019, she was seen leaving the Springfield Federal Court but declined to comment on the status of the case. If you would like to continue helping us improve Mass.gov, join our user panel to test new features for the site. Please limit your input to 500 characters. As per her own court testimony, as revealed in the docu-series, Farak began working at a state drug lab in Amherst in 2004. Initially, she had represented herself in answer to the complaints lodged against her, but later, she turned to Susan Sachs, who represented her since, not just on the Penate lawsuit, but also on any other case that emerged as the result of her actions in Amherst. On a Friday afternoon in January 2013, a call came in to Coakley's office: "We have another Annie Dookhan out west." Earlier that day, a chemist at the Amherst drug lab had tracked . Sonja Farak, 35, who worked at the Massachusetts State Crime Laboratory in Amherst, was arrested at her Northampton home Saturday night by Massachusetts State Police and is facing two counts of tampering with evidence, one count of possession of a Class A substance, and one count of possession of a Class B Substance, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley. [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. Farak worked at the Amherst Lab since the summer of 2004 and she started taking the labs drugs soon after. 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. Court records showed that Farak was smocking crack and dropping acid on the same day that she tested the drugs in Penates case. 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In the documentary, Heather Harris, a forensic chemist, states that drug chemists don't make for compelling television. 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. Defense attorney Luke Ryan's clients Rolando Penate and Rafael Rodriguez were convicted based upon Sonja Farak's drug lab testing. Since her release, she has kept a low profile and managed to stay out of the public eye. After serving just a year of her 18 month sentence, Farak was released from prison in 2015. Farak remained in jail Sunday, the attorney generals office said. In 2014, former Amherst drug lab chemist Sonja Farak was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison after it was discovered that she stole and used drugs that she was entrusted to test. Tens of thousands of criminal drug cases were dismissed as a result of misconduct by Dookhan and Farak. For How to Fix a Drug Scandal, the story is about two women who start the scandals. The feedback will only be used for improving the website. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sonja Farak was a chemist at a state drug lab in Amherst, Massachusetts, from 2005 to 2013. She is not active on any social media platform and has kept her distance from the press. All Rights Reserved. (413) 586-4800lryan@strhlaw.com, DanielN. Marx Kaczmarek argued before the BBO, and in response to Penate's lawsuit, that she was focused on prosecuting Farak and not defendants, like Penate, whose criminal cases were affected by Farak's misconduct. "The mental health worksheets constituted admissions by the state lab chemist assigned to analyze the samples seized in Plaintiffs case that she was stealing and using lab samples to feed a drug addiction at the time she was testing and certifying the samples in Plaintiffs case, including, in one instance, on the very day that she certified a sample," Robertson's ruling reads. After her arrest, in 2013, Farak told prosecutors she had become addicted to drugs while working in the lab and, over nine years, had taken meth, crack cocaine, amphetamines, ketamine and LSD in the lab's bathroom and at the bench where she tested. appreciated. 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. I felt amazing.. In 2013, Massachusetts State Police arrested 35-year-old crime drug lab chemist Sonja Farak for tampering with evidence: and that was only the beginning. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. Mucha gente que vio el programa se pregunta: dnde est Sonja Farak ahora? She started doing drugs almost as soon as she took the job at Amherst, but it was after years of negligence on her superiors part that her actions finally came to light. 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. When testing Penates sample a second time, Farak had taken LSD and the sensation of colors in the wind left her unable to function for work. Still, when Penates lawyers inquired about Faraks drug usage, the Massachusetts state prosecutors refused to give up information. [6] How to Fix a Drug Scandal depicts the role of former Attorney General of Massachusetts Martha Coakley, who was accused of political cover up. In addition, the two antagonists of the story were two women - prosecutors who made it impossible for the convicts to be rightfully released from prison. While its a small fact said in the documentary mini-series, its a mind-bogglingone. I want to be accepted like one of them, Sonja said during the local news segment, included in the docuseries. Sonja Farak. Throughout the show, audiences see the gritty side of the law and the uglier side of the war on drugs. As . As extensively detailed in How to Fix a Drug Scandal, Farak was arrested on January 19, 2013. Kaczmarek also oversaw the prosecution for the attorney general's office in that case. 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. Sonja Farak worked as a chemist for the state of Massachusetts, specializing in identifying illegal substances. In 2019, the former chemist was seen attending a civil case at a federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts. Filmmaker Erin Lee Carrs recent docu-series How to Fix a Drug Scandal twinkles a spotlight on wrongdoing on several levels but its main focus is on a Massachusetts former drug lab technician named Sonja Farak. 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. 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. 1. Since Farak makes one half of the scandal, heres what you need to know about what she did and where she is now. 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. 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. But there are also some things audiences may have missed on their first viewing. You can find copies of the Dookhan Notice Letterbelow. The Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office deliberately hid information about Faraks misconduct and enabled defendants to be sent to prison even though the proof presented in court was changed with. Please limit your input to 500 characters. While Dookhan had tampered with evidence and indulged in dry-labbing, Farak stole from her workplace. Who Is Sonja Farak And What Is Her Drug Scandal. Moreover, more than 24,000 cases ended up being dismissed due to Faraks misconduct. Farak is amongst one of the 18 defendants battling the lawsuit filed by Rolando Penate. She was caught with evidence files under her desk, including unsealed envelopes . 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. Sonja Farak's stature. Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Spanish, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Khmer, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Russian, Notice of Dismissal with Prejudice: Vietnamese, 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. Suggestions are presented as an open option list only when they are available. She was trying to suppress mental health issues, depression in specific, and she attempted to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. 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. I can guess that it has been very, very painful for her, she said. "No reasonablejury could conclude that this evidence is not favorable.". The surveillance of the chemists as well as the standards and the confiscated drugs has also been increased considerably. When Ryan found out Farak was high when she conducted those tests, he knew it was time to fight. 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. An official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, This page, Drug lab cases information, is. READ NEXT: Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Netflix Pandemic doctor believes he's stumbled on 20-minute coronavirus cure. Her job was to define whether a substance someone was caught carrying was really cocaine, meth, or something else. 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