Farak is one of two Massachusetts drug lab technicians who were caught tainting evidence that was . There was something so tragic but also surreal about this story.. Lets find out. That settlement awaits approval by a judge. Farak, a chemist, was later convicted of stealing drugs from the state lab in Amherst. Moreover, more than 24,000 cases ended up being dismissed due to Faraks misconduct. Penate ended up serving close to six years in prison. I could not imagine being high on liquid methamphetamine and hiding it, day in, day out, Carr told, adding that her preliminary curiosity surrounding Farak kicked off the making of the docuseries. Her interest soon led to a regular drug habit. While not reporting, he enjoys long-distance running. Between 2003 and 2011, chemist Annie Dookhan engaged in serious misconduct at a state drug lab that jeopardized the integrity of over 20,000 cases in Eastern Massachusetts. (Featured Image Credit: Mass Live). According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Farak graduated with awards and distinctions. She has since been one of 18 defendants facing a lawsuit by Rolando Penate, who claims they committed "intentional infliction of emotional distress in addition to the conspiracy to violate [Penates] civil rights.. She isnt 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. The court will be sending notices to those affected by Ms. Faraks misconduct. 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. Magistrate Judge Robertson denied a request in Penate's lawsuit that Kaczmarek be prohibited from contesting the special hearing officer's findings. Disgraced former state lab chemist Sonja Farak leaves federal court in Springfield. The surveillance of the chemists as well as the standards and the confiscated drugs has also been increased considerably. She was caught with evidence files under her desk, including unsealed envelopes . She really did, at certain times, tried to stop doing this but couldnt.. Sonja Farak during her arraignment at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown in 2013. 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. The last contact information provided by her, in response to Penates allegations, placed her residence in Hatfield, Massachusetts. The four-part Netflix series goes deep into the story of a man named Rolando Penate, a case Farak had handled at the lab. Faraks wife had her own mental health problems, and according to Rolling Stone, Farak would have conflict with her wife every night at home. 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. Something went wrong, please try again later. How to Fix a Drug Scandal: With Shannon O'Neill, Karl Kenzler, Paul Solotaroff, Scott Allen. He confronted Farak, she denied knowing anything about it, and he, in the face of that denial, . 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 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. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a . In Massachusetts it doesn't even end there. Kaczmarek argued the findings are subject to appeal. On further review, the Court ordered the automatic dismissal with prejudice of all cases tested at the Amherst Drug Lab between January 2009 and January 2013, effective December 13, 2018. 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This documentary mini-series follows the stories of these two drug lab . All Rights Reserved. While what she did was immoral, many have been sympathetic to her plight. Penate's lawsuit, which seeks $5.7 million in damages, is believed to be one of the last remaining suits tied to the scandals; the statute of limitations to file such suits has expired. Sonja Farak was a chemist at a state drug lab in Amherst, Massachusetts, from 2005 to 2013. Two drug lab chemists' shocking crimes cripple a state's judicial system and blur the lines of justice for lawyers, officials and thousands of inmates. | Powered by Artimization. Sonja Farak's net worth is estimated to be between $1 million and $5 million in 2020. How to Fix A Drug Scandal is Netflix's latest intriguing documentary series, and these are 10 details everyone missed. More than that, she sinks her teeth into the ones that are chock-full of scandalous details. post office box as her contact information. As extensively detailed in How to Fix a Drug Scandal, Farak was arrested on January 19, 2013. 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. 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. [7], How to Fix a Drug Scandal was released on April 1, 2020, on Netflix.[2]. Her parents were depicted as loving, and somewhat strict. She is not active on any social media platform and has kept her distance from the press. Farak stole the drugs (mainly meth, cocaine, and crack cocaine) because she was addicted. If you're on the prowl for . 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. Dry labbing is the practice of merely visually identifying samples instead of performing the required chemical test, the attorney general said. The drug lab technician was sent to prison for 18 months, but was released in 2015. Farak admitted in testimony that she began using drugs almost as soon as she started working at the Massachusetts State Crime Lab in Amherst. Carr said shes been shocked to read angry reactions towards Farak over Twitter. Sonja Farak, who works at a lab in Amherst, in western Massachusetts, removed from a case file a substance that tested positive for cocaine and replaced it with one that didn't, state Attorney . All Rights Reserved. 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 . A Board of Bar Overseers special hearing officer recently issued these findings in a 98-page decision about former assistant attorneys general Anne Kaczmarek, John Verner and Kris Foster. Reporter. She said it gave me the desired effects. Not only did she do this in the lab, but also in court whilst testifying in relation to cases. She was given an 18-month sentence, along with five years of probation. Copyright 2023 by Vizaca. Copyright 2023 by Vizaca. One of the reasons for the decrepit state and standard of the Amherst lab was the lack of funds. In the documentary, an actress plays Sonja Farak for B-roll scenes, and that actress is Shannon ONeill. Faraks findings, and occasional testimony at court about her testing, was used as proof to convict the person who had been arrested. Its unclear if she still owns the property and if she lives there now. 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. She is a decent height with good physical . If she puts her mind to something, she can do it, Amy told the producers of How to Fix a Drug Scandal.. I think I make a strong case and advocate that humans are fallible and she needs to be given a second chance, but thats an unpopular opinion, and I cant control how the public reacts to it.. Money Heist season 3 recap: How did La Casa de Papel Part 3 end? The newest true crime series from Netflix, How to Fix a Drug Scandal, was released on April 1, 2020. Defense attorney Luke Ryan's clients Rolando Penate and Rafael Rodriguez were convicted based upon Sonja Farak's drug lab testing. 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. In 2004, she was transferred to the Amherst Lab where . 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. Matt is short for Matthew, and the mat is a play on words of his name. I wasnt abused and yet I still turned out a certain way, still had some problems.. She cried as she was sentenced. (413) 586-4800lryan@strhlaw.com, DanielN. Marx Release year: 2020. Faraks sister Amy Farak said her sister outshined at sports. How to Fix a Drug Scandal premiered on Netflix April 1, and it has told the compelling stories of Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan. The docuseries did note that Farak is still a fan of the Patriots. Please limit your input to 500 characters. But whether anyone investigated her conduct during a brief stint working at the state's Boston drug lab is at . Many people watching the show are wondering: where is Sonja Farak now? The series chronicles nine years of misconduct at two Massachusetts drug labs. 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. Since Farak makes one half of the scandal, heres what you need to know about what she did and where she is now. Her role was to test for the presence of illegal substances, which could be instrumental in thousands of drug related legal cases. 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. Netflix's most original true-crime film: "How to Fix a Drug Crisis," [3] was released on April 1st, 2020. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. After eight years at the lab, Sonja was finally caught out and arrested for her actions. Penate argued the court should follow those findings. She started working shortly after for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in July 2003 until July 2012, and from July 2012 until January 2013 for the Massachusetts State Police when the lab fell under their jurisdiction. He recommended she lose her law license for two years; the Office of Bar Counsel later argued Kaczmarek should be disbarred. In 2019, Sonja was seen leaving Springfield Federal Court but declined to speak to press. Previously to her arrest, Farak lived in Laurel Park, Northampton in Massachusetts. 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. Netflix Pandemic doctor believes he's stumbled on 20-minute coronavirus cure. The crime laboratory in Amherst stores and analyzes alleged controlled substances seized by local and state police. Sonja Farak (left) leaving the courthouse with her lawyer. Without ever absolving these two women, Carr finds something tragic in . 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 . Farak also had an apparent obsession for her therapists husband, as she was reported to have a folder that shed put together about him, documenting her obsession. When Sonja graduated high school in 1996, she didnt just attain various varsity letters for sports. Did you encounter any technical issues? Here are 10 things everyone completely missed in Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal. 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. 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A judge's ruling that tossed out a defendant's conviction because of a drug lab scandal has now jeopardized nearly 10,000 convictions tied to disgraced former state chemist Sonja Farak and the . Powered by. The Farak scandal came as the state grappled with another drug lab crisis. Very little is known about Farak, the former chemist at the states drug lab, since she has kept a very low profile, even more so after her release from prison. In 2019, the former chemist was seen attending a civil case at a federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts. Thousands of people who had drug convictions in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, may soon see them vacated due to a "catastrophic failure of management," the county's district attorney Rachael . 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. On top of that, it was also ensured that no analyst would ever work without supervision. The show also delves into the issues of the state in discovering and reporting on the extent of the cases that were affected by Faraks actions. Farak has stayed sober, according to the docuseries. 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. Her reporting focuses on mental health, criminal justice and education. 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.. She sinks her teeth into the story of a man named Rolando Penate a... People watching the show are wondering: where is Sonja Farak for B-roll scenes and. 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