Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! I find that everyone needs to be given a second chance.". 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. No wonder, she expresses an initial surprise upon learning that Sonja got addicted to drugs while working on her job. 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. Release year: 2020. She's no longer in prison, as Farak has served her sentence. According to an Attorney General Offices report, Farak attended Temple University in Philadelphia for graduate school, which is where she became a recreational drug user. 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. Her wrongdoings were exposed when unsealed cocaine and a crack pipe were found under her desk. She currently keeps a very low profile and is dealing with a pending civil case, but How To Fix A Drug Scandal director Erin Lee Carr reveals to Women's Health that Farak is sober now. 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. By some accounts, she is 68 years old. According to a newspaper article from 1992, she was the first female in Rhode Island to be on a high school football team. Farak was a former lab chemist at a lab in Amherst, Massachusetts and was convicted of stealing and using drugs from the lab where she worked. Where is Linda Farak Now? - The Cinemaholic Apart from the late Stanley Farak, it appears that Amy and Sonja make up the rest of Lindas family. In January 2017, after years of litigation, this Court established "a new protocol" for cases affected by the egregious misconduct of another former state chemist, Annie Dookhan. Netflix released a new docu-series called "How to Fix a Drug Scandal." 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. Criminal. High Mass. Lab Chemist Causes Over 24,000 Drug Charges To Be Dismissed I can guess that it has been very, very painful for her, she said. Criminal. She grew up in Portsmouth with her sister Amy. She tested . 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. Inwardly though, Sonja was struggling. 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. Where Is Kris Foster From 'How to Fix a Drug Scandal' Now? - Women's Health 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. Its no big deal, 14-year-old Farak said to the Panama City News Herald. Despite being a star child of the family, Sonja suffered from the mental illnesses that haunted her even in adulthood. Farak admitted to being on a list of drugs while working between 2004 and her 2013 arrest. In How to Fix a Drug Scandal on Netflix, Ryan is the primary on-camera interviewee. More cases connected to Sonja Farak's drug lab work expected to be You know, no special treatment.. The chemist, Sonja Farak, worked at the Amherst crime drug lab from 2004 to 2013 during which she was high almost every day. Sonja Farak was a chemist for a state crime lab in Massachusetts. Linda was married to Stanley M Farak, who was in the US Navy. She was sentenced to 18 months behind bars, followed by five years of probation and 500 hours of community services, the same year. In 2018, all of the criminal convictions more than 10,000 that Farak worked on were dismissed. 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 . Class members can also call 1-833-630-1415 for information in both English and Spanish. April 1, 2020. Kaczmarek is one of three former prosecutors whose role in the prosecution of Farak later became the focus of several lawsuits and disciplinary hearings. She worked there for a year but soon realized she wouldnt make enough money there in the Boston area to buy a house. Yes, it is so exciting to put a series out and I think the series is well-reported and researched but its something that happened in the midst of her addiction, and she was incredibly embarrassed about it. The responsibility of the mess that she created should also rest upon the shoulders of her workplace that allowed her the opportunity to indulge so freely in drugs in the first place. Farak as a young woman (Photo: Netflix) Her misconduct led to more than 24,000 drug cases being dismissed. Obviously, after a blunder of such scale, no one would want their samples checked from the same lab. Linda was married to Stanley M Farak, who was in the US Navy. She was released in 2015. She is not active on any social media platform and has kept her distance from the press. By some accounts, she is 68 years old. As shown in the docuseries, she testified that her childhood was normal and middle class. Support GBH. 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. Furthermore, Netflix has created a documentary on her story named 'How to Fix a Drug Scandal'. In 2012, former drug lab chemist Annie Dookhan was arrested for falsifying evidence recovered from alleged drug busts in the state of Massachusetts. Here's Where Sonja Farak Is Now, After 'How to Fix a Drug Scandal' What Netflix's How To Fix a Drug Scandal didn't tell you - Esquire A final decision is still pending and must be approved by the state Supreme Judicial Court. The actions of Sonja Farak and Annie Dookhan caused a racket of such a scale that the state had to recompense for it with millions of dollars and had to make a historic move in the dismissal of wrongful convictions. Sonja Farak, of Northampton, a former chemist at the state crime lab in Amherst, appears in Hampshire Superior Court in Northampton in April 2013 for her arraignment on multiple counts of evidence . Thousands of convictions in thousands cases tainted by former state chemist Sonja Farak were ordered for dismissal today, marking a victory for justice after litigation from the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) who is the plaintiff and institutional petitioner on behalf of all parties impacted, and the law firm Fick & Marx LLP. "She isn't on drugs anymore, and I think that that is incredible," she says. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Farak was arrested in January 2013 for stealing drugs . Farak was born in San Diego, California and within a year her family moved to Newport, Rhode Island after her Navy father was transferred to the east coast. Most Popular #259201 First Name Sonja #23 Criminal Born in Massachusetts #11 45 Year Old Criminal #6 Sonja Farak Is A Member Of . Over time, Farak's drug use turned to cocaine, LSD and, eventually, crack. Netflix's How to Fix a Drug Scandal: What Happened to Luke Ryan She shone academically as well. "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.'" their crimes under the rug without addressing how their actions affected the defendants who were convicted based on their drug testing. Kaczmarek had obtained the evidence at issue while she was prosecuting Farak on state charges of tampering with evidence and drug possession. Is Netflix's 'The Nurse' Based On A True Story? 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. According to her teammates, She was the best center in the league last year, and they [felt] stronger with her in there than with some guys.. Farak worked at the Amherst Lab since the summer of 2004 and she started taking the labs drugs soon after. Erin Lee Carr On Directing 'I Love You, Now Die'. 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. The disgraced chemist was sentenced to less than two years behind bars in 2014, following her guilty pleas for stealing cocaine from the lab. Criminal. Criminal. He went to bat for clients who were affected by both Farak and Dookhans misconduct. Faraks therapist, Anna Kogan, wrote in her notes that Farak was worried about Nikki finding out about her addiction as well as the possible legal issues if she were ever caught. First Name Sonja. She grew up in Portsmouth with her sister Amy.. 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. Her curiosity soon led to a regular drug habit. How to Fix a Drug Scandal - Wikipedia As shown in the docuseries, she testified that her childhood was normal and middle class. She was arrested for tampering with evidence while abusing narcotics at work. Sonja Farak: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com 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 Oxygen.com. Jasmine Gomez is the Commerce Editor at Womens Health, where she cover the best product recommendations across beauty, health, lifestyle, fitness, and more. Months before Faraks misconduct came to light in 2013, another lab technician named Annie Dookhan was arrested in 2012 after it became apparent that she wasnt even testing the drug evidence; rather, she just marked results as positive so that she could impress her colleagues with her speed and efficiency. Report shows more than 24k wrongful convictions dismissed in drug lab 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. Court records showed that Farak was smocking crack and dropping acid on the same day that she tested the drugs in Penates case. The place was closed as soon as Faraks crimes came to light. Her mother and sister seem to show no empathy for anyone involved in the cases of Sonja Farak, and only seem to be concerned with how the . 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