Carr, who has been public about her past personal battles with alcohol misuse said that it takes both strength and a very specific type of person to hide such intense substance use for so long. Carr said shes been horrified to read angry reactions towards Farak over Twitter. After launching a lengthy investigation, his attorney Luke Ryan discovered 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 Farak's therapy sessions, where she admitted to have been using that day. "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. Erin Lee Carr On Directing 'I Love You, Now Die'. There was something so tragic but also surreal about this story.. Kaczmarek argued the findings are subject to appeal. post office box as her contact information. I want to be accepted like one of them, Sonja said during the local news segment, included in the docuseries. Netflix released a new docu-series called "How to Fix a Drug Scandal." She was arrested on January 19, 2013. They were all rendered unacceptable. MGB medical residents want to change long hours, low pay and poor benefits. Netflix's latest true-crime series, How to Fix a Drug Scandal, dives deep into a shocking Massachusetts scandal, one that started in the humble confines of an underfunded drug testing lab and ended with an entire system in question. We have got you covered in that regard. If Farak found a substance was a true drug, the person it was confiscated from could be convicted of a substance-related crime. Kaczmarek is one of three former prosecutors whose role in the prosecution of Farak later became the focus of several lawsuits and disciplinary hearings. A pair of scandals at two state . Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Previously to her arrest, Farak lived in Laurel Park, Northampton in Massachusetts. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. 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. She remained a football fan, and loved the Patriots. She recovered, made it through college and got a job as a chemist at the Amherst Crime Lab, where she tested confiscated drugs. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. In December 2020, he filed a motion for a new trial seeking to withdraw his guilty pleas on the basis that chemist Sonja Farak analyzed the drugs in question while she was employed at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute (Hinton . This Board of Bar Overseers report comes as Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins last week said shes asking the states highest court to toss thousands of convictions for which evidence was processed at the now-disgraced Hinton lab. She had been accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress in addition to the conspiracy to violate [Penates] civil rights.. 1 Indeed, this Court's decisions concerning the Hinton drug lab scandal compel that remedy. In Netflixs docuseries we get to hear from her sister, and mother, who give us an insight into Sonjas life, and how her actions impacted them. The staff in the new lab was also doubled, and the number of trainees was also increased. "As the gatekeeper to this evidence, she failed to turn over documents, and she adamantly opposed the requests for access. 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. However, from the docuseries, it is clear that she remains in touch with her daughters. Filmmaker Erin Lee Carrs newest docuseries How to Fix a Drug Scandal shines a spotlight on misconduct on several levels but its primary focus is on a Massachusetts former drug lab technician named Sonja Farak. Kaczmarek failed to disclose information and intentionally misrepresented the evidence she had, and worked to actively shut down inquiry and deflect zealous work by Farak defendants counsel who were doing their jobs by requesting evidence of Faraks misconduct, according to the report. A drug chemist in. She has since been one of 18 defendants facing a lawsuit by Rolando Penate, who claims they. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! . Episode 2. Eight years since disgraced chemist Sonja Farak was arrested for tampering with evidence at a Massachusetts drug lab, the effects of her actions are still unfolding. Join us. 45 Year Olds. Farak was actually using the drugs, too. . Westcott has been in recovery from heroin addiction for nearly nine years. Instead, the 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 . 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Though viewers won't hear from Farak directly due to a pending civil case, the series paints a vivid picture of Farak's drug use through dramatization. .css-26w0xw{display:block;font-family:NationalBold,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-26w0xw:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-26w0xw{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-26w0xw{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-26w0xw{font-size:1.28598rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-26w0xw{font-size:1.575rem;line-height:1.1;margin-bottom:-0.5rem;}}How To Avoid Unexpected Health Bills. But this wasn't the only drug lab scandal that would rock the state's criminal justice system. The woman is older now and is perhaps trying to put the incident concerning her daughter, behind her. She started bringing drugs home, and doing them first thing in the morning. I was provided for in every way, Farak testified. Linda was married to Stanley M Farak, who was in the US Navy. More than 24,000 convictions have been overturned as a result of her case. After their arrests, prosecutors at the Massachusetts Attorney Generals office then tried to sweep their crimes under the rug without addressing how their actions affected the defendants who were convicted based on their drug testing. Perhaps, this desire for privacy, combined with Lindas age, is why she doesnt have much of a digital footprint. Her medical records included notes from Faraks therapist in Amherst, Anna Kogan. Where Is Sonja Farak From Netflix's 'How To Fix A Drug Scandal' Now, And What Happened To Her? Annie Dookhan and Sonja Faraks crimes undermined the integrity of our justice system and impacted thousands of lives, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said when the settlement was reached in June. 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. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Farak was arrested in January 2013 for stealing drugs . This achievement earned her a full page layout in the local paper and some local TV news coverage. You can try, Judge dismisses 'qualified immunity' claim in suit against ex-prosecutor in drug lab scandal, Judge declines mass dismissal of cases from tainted drug lab, New Evidence May Implicate Additional Chemists In Statewide Drug Lab Scandal. 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. A scandal erupts, raising questions for the thousands of defendants in her cases. One of the reasons for the decrepit state and standard of the Amherst lab was the lack of funds. She continued to experience suicidal thoughts, but instead of going through with those thoughts, she started taking the drugs that she would be testing at work. Dookhan was. on Oct. 31, 2017. 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 . She was struggling to suppress mental health issues, depression in particular, and she tried to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. Chemists Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan tampered with evidence and even used narcotics. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. Trump's latest attack addresses DeSantis' overseas trips to the U.K., Israel, Florida's Covid-19 record, and polling support for the 2024 Presidential race. If the judge determines that it is fair, a settlement administrator will send out checks. A final decision is still pending and must be approved by the state Supreme Judicial Court. I wasnt abused and yet I still turned out a certain way, still had some problems.. "Not only did I already put my life on hold for the years that I was using, but now I was ready to be a functional member of society and I was blocked from doing that because of these charges," Westcott said. Magistrate Judge Robertson denied a request in Penate's lawsuit that Kaczmarek be prohibited from contesting the special hearing officer's findings. Instead, Carr strived to create "the three-dimensional portrait" of Farak and figured out how to put that inside her documentary. Together, we can create a more connected and informed world. The fees eligible for reimbursement include probation fees, victim witness fees, GPS monitoring costs and driver's license reinstatement fees. Any uncashed checks will be distributed to Community Legal Aid, Inc., the Transformational Prison Project, and the Tufts Education Reentry Network program after one year. The four-part investigation explains why the Massachusetts drug analyst fabricated evidence while working at the Hinton State Laboratory in Boston, and how her incompetence affected a subsequent scandal involving fellow chemist Sonja Farak in Amherst. . In fact, How To Fix a Drug Scandal shows the Faraks at a football game after Sonja serves time for her actions. She tried to kill herself in high school, according to Rolling Stone. Thats when she found a home working at a lab in the Morrill Science Building on the UMass Amherst campus. The latter investigation was the result of a complaint filed by Nina Morrison, senior litigation counsel for the Innocence Project. Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. As she put it in a piece for Commonwealth Magazine, the Farak case involved a rare one-two punch of official misconduct. She joined Jim Braude to discuss. Sonja Farak. This not only led to people getting a reprieve from prison but also filing their own lawsuits against the injustice they had to suffer. Where is Farak today? Farak worked at the Amherst Lab since the summer of 2004 and she started taking the labs drugs soon after. Get all the latest from Sanditon on GBH Passport, How one Brookline studio helps artists with disabilities thrive. Sonja Farak, left, stands during her arraignment at Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, Mass. The disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence was particularly important, the report reads. While Carr doesn't know a lot about Farak's personal life ("She's a very, very private person," she notes), the director does believe she is a "clear cut example" of the power of second chances. Penate argued the court should follow those findings. He recommended she lose her law license for two years; the Office of Bar Counsel later argued Kaczmarek should be disbarred. The lawsuit names Kaczmarek, Farak and three members of the state police. Between Farak and Dookhanwho's also featured in How to Fix a Drug Scandal38,000 wrongfully convicted cases have been dismissed, according to the Washington Post. When she's not shopping for a living, she enjoys karaoke and dining out more than she cares to admit. She confided in her therapist that all the drugs she was consuming came from her workplace. However, we have been able to figure out that Linda works at the Protective Service Occupations. It appears that Linda has Christianity listed as her religion, and is a Caucasian woman, who's registered as a Democrat. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. She played as the starting guard for Portsmouth High Schools freshman team. Cohen and Felson's (Long, 2021) Faraks sister Amy Farak said her sister excelled at sports. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. YouTube Farak has stayed sober, according to the docuseries. The four-episode documentary series centers around the Massachusetts drug lab crisis that came to light a few years ago. She really did, at certain times, tried to stop doing this but couldnt.. Jasmine Gomez is the Commerce Editor at Womens Health, where she cover the best product recommendations across beauty, health, lifestyle, fitness, and more. In How to Fix a Drug Scandal on Netflix, Ryan is the primary on-camera interviewee. Its unclear if Farak is still with Lee, as they have both remained out of the public eye since the case. "No reasonable individual could have failed to appreciate the unlawfulness of [Kaczmarek's] actions in these circumstances," Robertson wrote in her ruling. The chemist, Sonja Farak, worked at the state drug lab in Amherst, Massachusetts, for more than eight years. According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Farak graduated with awards and distinctions. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. 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. "And I think often when we're looking at these criminal justice stories, and we're looking at 'perpetrators,' we sort of almost see them as avatars, like 'there was this bad chemist and she did X.'" She cried as she was sentenced, I think it's very painful to be Sonja and I regret having to advocate against her, Ryan, said in the docuseries. This first-time event, brought to you by GBH in partnership with NPR, PBS and stations across the country, is a celebration of all that #PublicMediaGives people everywhere. The filmmaker told Oxygen.com that she spent a lot of time thinking about Farak and trying to humanize her. (Featured Image Credit: Mass Live). She began working there in 2004 and enjoyed that it was more laid back than the job at Hinton. I felt euphoric, Kogan wrote of Farak. 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. I could not imagine being high on liquid methamphetamine and hiding it, day in, day out, Carr told Oxygen.com, adding that her initial curiosity surrounding Farak kicked off the making of the docuseries. In the series, it's explained that Farak loved the energy the meth gave her. The state is notifying people via letters, posting flyers and the settlement notice is available online. In 2012, former drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan was arrested for falsifying evidence recovered from alleged drug busts in the state of Massachusetts. While she reached out to her family to let them know that the docuseries was coming out, she hasnt spoken to Farak and doesn't know much about her current life. While confessed addict Farak was using confiscated drugs as her personal stash Dookhan wasn't even testing her drugs, just pushing all tests through as positive to impress her superiors with her speed and efficiency. Each person who has had a case dismissed will receive at least $150. As the docuseries shows, she admitted to a therapist in 2009 that she had been struggling with addiction issues since 2005. She said early recovery was hard because finding employment and housing was difficult with a criminal record and having to pay court fees. "She's somebody that sort of shies away from press. Both were convicted of tampering with the drugs they were testing for evidence in criminal cases, resulting in the state Supreme Judicial Court dismissing tens of thousands of compromised criminal cases. Share. After years of digging, lawyers found that Farak's illicit use of the drugs she worked with every day had actually become an addiction, and that her drug use had started well before her arresta fact the Massachusetts attorney general's office didn't initially reveal, according to the docuseries. "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. Kaczmarek, along with former assistant attorneys general Kris Foster and John Verner, all face possible sanctions. Easy access to drugs and the lack of supervision at work allowed Farak to maintain and hide her addiction for several years. While what she did was wrong, many have been sympathetic to her plight. Despite her status as a free woman (who has seemingly disappeared from the public eye), Farak's wrongdoings continue to make waves in the Massachusetts courts. Don Treeger/The Republican via AP, Pool, File. The newest true crime series from Netflix, How to Fix a Drug Scandal, was released on April 1, 2020. El Chino ntrax. That's when rogue. READ NEXT: Netflixs How to Fix a Drug Scandal Story: 5 Fast Facts, Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. I mean she could have been my client.". Its no big deal, 14-year-old Farak said to the Panama City News Herald. She shone academically as well. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with . We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. Her supply came from work itself; she would take drugs and use them and then replace the evidence bags with fake drugs. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. The settlement also covers relatives of deceased class members. She was struggling to suppress mental health issues, depression in particular, and she tried to kill herself in high school, according to, I could not imagine being high on liquid methamphetamine and hiding it, day in, day out, Carr told, , adding that her initial curiosity surrounding Farak kicked off the making of the docuseries. Sonja got a job as a chemist at the Hinton State Laboratory building in Jamaica Plain after getting her college degree. 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. Sonja Farak in court in 2014.. Because she did so, Plaintiff served more than five years in a state prison.". After her arrest, she received support from her parents, who showed up to her court appearances, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. That is as much public exposure as shes opened herself up to since her release from jail. Linda was born on 19th July 1951. And now, three state prosecutors who investigated Farak are under investigation themselves by the states Board of Bar Overseers for their early handling of evidence. He went to bat for clients who were affected by both Farak and Dookhans misconduct. 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.. Netflix's latest documentary series, How to Fix a Drug Scandal, focuses on the story of Sonja Farak, a former Massachusetts crime lab chemist who was found to be abusing the drugs she was . Inwardly though, Sonja was struggling. Furthermore, Netflix has created a documentary on her story named 'How to Fix a Drug Scandal'. The Netflix docuseries makes it clear that moments were re-created based on text from unsealed court transcripts; however, casual streamers may get confused about the artistic filmmaking choice, or even believe that O'Neill is indeed Farak. 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. 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 admitted to being on a list of drugs while working between 2004 and her 2013 arrest. You can try, Suspensions and a reprimand proposed for prosecutors admonished in drug lab scandal. She was released in 2015, as reported by Mass Live. Farak used to take drugs that came in the lab for test of authenticity and used as criminal evidence. According to the notes, Farak thought it gave her energy, helped her to get things done and not procrastinate, feel more positive., Her partner Nikki Lee testified before a grand jury that she herself had tried cocaine, that she had observed Farak using cocaine in 2000, and that she had marijuana in her house when police officers arrived to search the premises as part of their investigation of Farak., In Faraks testimony during a grand jury investigation, she said that she became a recreational drug user during graduate school and used cocaine, marihuana, and ecstasy. She also said she used heroin one time and was nervous and sick and hated every minute of it [and had] no desire to use [it] again., Farak met and settled down with Nikki Lee in her 20s. Less than a year later, former drug lab technician Sonja Farak would also be arrested for tampering with the drugs she was tasked with testing. How to Fix a Drug Scandal premiered on Netflix April 1, and it has told the compelling stories of Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan. Sonja Farak, tasked with testing confiscated drugs inMassachusetts, was high on the job for years. Stream GBH's Award-Winning Content For Parents And Children. DA Ryan on Farak Investigation. April 1, 2020. She received an 18-month jail sentence. 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. November 19, 2019 01:17 PM. After high school, Sonja went on to major in biochemistry at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in western Massachusetts. Follow us so you don't miss a thing! 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. Ted Bundy. Farak is one of two Massachusetts drug lab technicians who were caught tainting evidence that was used to convict thousands of defendants on drug charges. Farak struggled with mental health throughout her life, the documentary series explains. Farak, a chemist, was later convicted of stealing drugs from the state lab in Amherst. We couldn't do it without you. (Netflix) A former state chemist, Sonja Farak, made headlines in 2013 when she was arrested for stealing and using drugs from a laboratory. 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. Farak as a young woman (Photo: Netflix) Her misconduct led to more than 24,000 drug cases being dismissed. Jared Fogle. On the surface, their crimes dont seem as injurious and they dont seem to enjoy inflicting pain on others. Rick is a Massachusetts native and graduated from Boston University. Hints of problems to come were not apparent as a child, at least not from the outside. Over time, Farak's drug use turned to cocaine, LSD and, eventually, crack. While I certainly think her longstanding refusal to acknowledge what she was doing comprised the rights of lots of people, I have sympathy for a human being who is struggling with a very difficult addiction, he said. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. While Farak kept her drug use isolated to work only at first, her use still spilled out. Regardless, there's little attention paid to the humanity of the actual chemist .
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