She was sentenced in January 2014 after she pled guilty to four counts of theft of a controlled substance from an authorized dispensary, four counts of tampering with evidence and two counts of cocaine possession. 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. In December 2011, after police in Springfield, Mass., had arrested Renaldo Penate for allegedly selling heroin, the drugs from that case were tested at a state drug lab by technician Sonja Farak. I mean she could have been my client. Netflix released a new docu-series called "How to Fix a Drug Scandal." I wasnt abused and yet I still turned out a certain way, still had some problems.. Sonja got a job as a chemist at the Hinton State Laboratory building in Jamaica Plain after getting her college degree. Linda Farak is currently in her 60s. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, on Monday, heard from attorneys representing prosecutors from the attorney general's office over their handling of the 2013 prosecution and arrest of drug. A scandal erupts, raising questions for the thousands of defendants in her cases. Criminals. Former Massachusetts assistant attorney general Anne Kaczmarek prosecuted Farak in 2013. He was most recently a reporter at The Lowell Sun. She married Lee after starting her job, but their marriage was rocky. . The move comes months after the American Civil Liberties Union and the state's public defender agency asked the state's highest court to throw out all of the cases tainted by Sonja Farak, who . Farak. The surveillance of the chemists as well as the standards and the confiscated drugs has also been increased considerably. A status hearing on Penate's suit, which was filed in 2017, is scheduled for July. But Westcott said she paid a variety of fees, such as $65 monthly probation costs and $500 to get her drivers license, before the SJC dismissed her three possession cases in 2018. The latest true crime offering from Netflix is the documentary series How to Fix a Drug Scandal. It dives into the story of Sonja Farak, a chemist who worked for a Massachusetts state drug lab and got arrested for taking the drugs she was testing as well as tampering with evidence. The disgraced chemist was sentenced to less than two years behind bars in 2014, following her guilty pleas for stealing cocaine from the lab. Apart from the late Stanley Farak, it appears that Amy and Sonja make up the rest of Lindas family. The state and attorneys for some of the defendants agreed to a $14 million settlement to reimburse 31,000 defendants for post conviction-related costs, such as probation and parole fees, drug analysis and GPS monitoring. We have got you covered in that regard. When she's not shopping for a living, she enjoys karaoke and dining out more than she cares to admit. Tens of thousands of criminal drug cases were dismissed as a result of misconduct by Dookhan and Farak. After contemplating another suicide, she settled on drugs, and the fact that she had such easy access to it at her workplace made it easier for her to get lost in that world. The latter investigation was the result of a complaint filed by Nina Morrison, senior litigation counsel for the Innocence Project. Anders Behring Breivik. One of the reasons for the decrepit state and standard of the Amherst lab was the lack of funds. General drug lab cases information. I think shes a good person, she said. It features the true story of Sonja Farak, a former state drug lab chemist in Massachusetts who was arrested in 2013 for consuming the drugs she was supposed to test and tampering with the evidence to cover up her tracks. A drug chemist in. Original release. The Amherst Bulletin reported that her medical records indicated that she only became addicted to drugs once she started working at the lab, in 2004. . Most Popular #259201 First Name Sonja #23 Criminal Born in Massachusetts #11 45 Year Old Criminal #6 Sonja Farak Is A Member Of . Lets find out. Sonja Farak, who worked as a chemist at the Amherst drug lab since 2004, was arrested in January 2013 after one of her co-workers noticed samples were missing from evidence. The settlement is the result of a class action lawsuit seeking to reimburse those who had their cases dismissed. How to Fix a Drug Scandal: With Shannon O'Neill, Karl Kenzler, Paul Solotaroff, Jared Olanoff. "She isn't on drugs anymore, and I think that that is incredible," Carr, who also directed the true-crime documentaries "I Love You, Now Die" and "Mommy Dead and Dearest," told Womens Health. "They wanted Sonja to be really rendered as human," Carr explains. 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. . I find that everyone needs to be given a second chance.". October 6, 2020 All Things Considered. She still resides in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, specifically, in the Portsmouth Park Area. Farak began her drug use by experimenting with liquid methamphetamine, but her addiction quickly grew and she began using other drugs including cocaine, and crack, which she smoked in her drug lab's bathroom, per Rolling Stone. Penate alleged Kaczmarek's actions violated his "Brady rights," which require prosecutors to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to defense counsel. Linda was born on 19th July 1951. 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. Cohen and Felson's (Long, 2021) No wonder, she expresses an initial surprise upon learning that Sonja got addicted to drugs while working on her job. Erin Lee Carr On Directing 'I Love You, Now Die'. Her supply came from work itself; she would take drugs and use them and then replace the evidence bags with fake drugs. Sonja Farak, left, stands during her arraignment at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, Mass. Easy access to drugs and the lack of supervision at work allowed Farak to maintain and hide her addiction for several years. 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. So, in a way, it is not from her that the queue of the blame should begin; it should be from the lab and the authorities themselves. She was arrested on January 19, 2013. The Netflix show highlights not only the arrest and trial of Farak, but also the missteps taken by the state to ignore the extent of the cases affected by Faraks actions. 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. Despite being a star child of the family, Sonja suffered from the mental illnesses that haunted her even in adulthood. More than 24,000 convictions have been overturned as a result of her case. There was something so tragic but also surreal about this story., She suffered from substance misuse disorder and she was in the worst kind of place to try to combat that, defense attorney Luke Ryan told, . The prosecutors have been tied to the drug lab scandal involving disgraced former state chemist Sonja Farak, who admitted to stealing and using drugs from an Amherst state lab. Farak has stayed sober, according to the docuseries. She remained a football fan, and loved the Patriots. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Directed by Erin Lee Carr, How to Fix a Drug Scandal released in April 2020 on Netflix. Sonja Farak was released on parole in 2016 and has remained out of the spotlight ever since. She really did, at certain times, tried to stop doing this but couldnt.. Nonetheless, she remains a private person and asks to be left alone. You can try, Suspensions and a reprimand proposed for prosecutors admonished in drug lab scandal. Regarding the cases that she had handled, the Massachusetts courts threw out every case in the Amherst lab during her tenure. It focuses on some strong female characters: Annie Dookhan, an employee of a forensics drug lab who falsified thousands of drug tests, Sonja Farak, who was convicted of stealing drugs from the lab where she worked, and . I can guess that it has been very, very painful for her, she said. Her parents were described as loving, and somewhat strict. Before her sentencing, Farak failed a drug test while. The scandal led to . Sonja Farak was a chemist for a state crime lab in Massachusetts. I think that this is really painful and difficult that her case is getting re-examined in sort of a public way because, you know, when you put things on a network like Netflix, people are going to talk about it.". It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. Many people watching the show are wondering: where is Sonja Farak now? The filmmaker told Oxygen.com that she spent a lot of time thinking about Farak and trying to humanize her. During her career as a. After high school, Sonja went on to major in biochemistry at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in western Massachusetts. The Mirror can reveal she was forced to defend herself in. She was struggling to suppress mental health issues, depression in particular, and she tried to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. She confided in her therapist that all the drugs she was consuming came from her workplace. Faraks wife had her own mental health problems, and according to Rolling Stone, Farak would have conflict with her wife every night at home. "I think that there has been a decent amount of coverage on Sonja regionally, but it was almost as if it was [only] the really intense partsthat she was smoking crack 10 to 12 times a daybut it didn't super go into her background, and her as a person," Carr explains. For her wrongdoing, Farak served 18 months in prison and was released in 2015. How to Fix A Drug Scandal is Netflix's latest intriguing documentary series, and these are 10 details everyone missed. "No reasonablejury could conclude that this evidence is not favorable.". Sonja Farak, a chemist with a longterm mental health struggle, is the catalyst of the story, but it doesn't end with her. Thank you! Penate is just one of the thousands of people whose cases were affected by Faraks actions. Follow her @JazzeGomez. Farak received a sentence of 18 months in jail and 5 years of probation. By some accounts, she is 68 years old. After she was caught, Farak pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from the lab and was sentenced to prison time of 18 months. Who is Sonja Farak? Before her sentencing, Farak failed a drug test while out on bail, according to Mass Live. The civil lawsuit was one of the last tied to prosecutors' disputed handling of the case against disgraced ex-chemist Sonja Farak, who was convicted in 2014 of ingesting drug samples she was. post office box as her contact information. Instead, Carr strived to create "the three-dimensional portrait" of Farak and figured out how to put that inside her documentary. It is important to point out that Sonja Farak was considered a typical citizen as she did not fit the stereotype of a drug offender . GBH News brings you the stories, local voices, and big ideas that shape our world.
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