How to Fix a Drug Scandal: Where are the key players now?
Thousands of drug convictions have been thrown out
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.While many Netflix viewers have fallen down the Tiger King rabbit hole, others have found themselves captivated by How to Fix a Drug Scandal.
The four-part documentary series, released this month, focuses on the 2013 arrest – and ensuing court case – of Sonja Farak, a then-35-year-old crime lab chemist accused of tampering with evidence, impacting thousands of drug convictions in Massachusetts.
While the programme centres around Farak, it references another key player: Annie Dookhan, a chemist involved in a similar scandal in the same state.
How to Fix a Drug Scandal aims not only to tell the story of Farak’s case, but also to cast a critical eye on Massachusetts’s criminal justice system.
Here is where the documentary’s two protagonists are now:
Sonja Farak
Farak pleaded guilty in January 2014 to stealing drugs from the lab she worked for. Specifically, she pleaded guilty to four counts of tampering with evidence, four counts of theft of a controlled substance from an authorised dispensary, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, according to MassLive’s reporting at the time.
She was sentenced to 18 months in jail and was released in 2015. Farak has since kept a low profile, staying largely out of the public eye, but the repercussions of the case are still making headlines.
In September last year, a report filed with the state Supreme Judicial Court stated that more than 24,000 convictions in more than 16,000 cases had been tossed in connection with the scandal.
Annie Dookhan
Dookhan was arrested in 2012 under suspicion of tampering with evidence and falsifying test results in criminal cases.
In November 2013, Dookhan pleaded guilty to 27 counts, including obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and perjury, The New York Times reported at the time.
She was sentenced to three to five years behind bars, walking free in 2016. Dookhan’s case, too, remained in the news following her release: in April 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court dismissed more than 21,000 drug convictions called into question by her conduct.