STORY: "Northampton chemist Sonja Farak gets 18 months in jail for tampering with drug samples," by reporter Jack Flynn, published by MassLive (The Republican), on January 6, 2014.
GIST: "Former state drug analyst (Sonja) Farak was given an 18-month jail sentence Monday after pleading guilty to stealing cocaine she was supposed to be testing. Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup also ordered the 35-year-old Northampton chemist to serve 5 years of probation and 500 hours of community services following her release from custody. By stealing cocaine from the crime lab at the University of Massachusetts, Farak undermined public faith in the criminal justice system and sabotaged drug prosecutions in four western counties, Rup said during a hearing in Hampshire Superior Court. “I don’t have to tell you the number of cases - dozens, hundreds,” the judge said, summarizing the damage from the Amherst drug lab scandal.........Farak pleaded guilty to four counts of theft of a controlled substance from an authorized dispensary, four counts of tampering with evidence, and two counts of possession of a cocaine. The plea came two weeks after Farak was jailed for flunking a drug test while out on bail following her arrest in January 2013. The Amherst drug lab scandal was the second to rock the state’s criminal justice system in two years. In August 2012 the state drug laboratory in Boston was shut down after chemist Annie Dookhan admitted to faking drug tests. In November, Dookhan was given a 3 to 5 year state prison sentence after pleading guilty to 27 counts of tampering with evidence, filing false reports and misleading investigators......... Noting that Farak’s parents, sisters, spouse and neighbors attended the hearing, Pourinski said the drug thefts were an aberration in an otherwise exemplary life. But Assistant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek said the chemist had undone the work of police and prosecutors in hundreds of drug cases, many of which cannot be retried because the evidence no longer exists.........The case began when Farak’s co-workers contacted state police after samples of cocaine seized by Springfield police had vanished. Investigators traced the missing drugs to her work station, and later found cocaine and a crack pipe in her car, according to Kaczmarek."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/01/chemist.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com
