‘How to fix a drug scandal’ is a new documentary series by a filmmaker, Erin Lee Carr. This is all about focusing on the Massachusetts former drug lab technician, Sonja Farak. One can watch this documentary series on Netflix. This series clearly shows how two drug chemists changed the proof. Because of changing the proof over many years, this even affected tens of thousands of cases in court.
In this article, let us discuss about Sonja Farak and her drug scandal. Read through the article to know more about Sonja Farak’s early life.
KEVIN GUTTING
Who Is Sonja Farak?
Sonja Farak was born in San Diego, California. Soon after her birth, they shifted her family to Newport, Rhode Island. This is because of her Navy father’s transfer to the east coast. According to the docu-series, her childhood days are normal and she is from a middle-class family. Her parents are caring her a lot but at the same time, they are strict too.
She has a sister named Amy Farak, who said that Sonja was good at sports. Moreover, Sonja was the first girl to play football in the public school system in Rhode Island.
In 1996, Sonja completed her high school and she was the class’ co-valedictorian. After that, she went to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Western Massachusetts. She graduated with high distinction in the department of biochemistry.
Career:
At the Hinton State Laboratory, Sonja joined as a chemist in Jamaica Plain. Almost for a year, she worked here but it was clear it is impossible to earn much money in that place to buy a house. Then, in 2004, she joined the Morrill Science Building on the UMass Amherst Campus and also found a home. At here, she started taking drugs but some people managed this to go as usual.
What Did Sonja Farak Do Exactly?
Sonja was working in the Amherst lab from 2004 to 2013. In such a period, she was consuming drugs, as the lab’s supervision was poor. With her addiction to drugs, she started stealing meth, crack cocaine, and cocaine drugs. The main reason for her drug abuse is the depression that she is facing for many years.
Farak even attempted suicide in her high school and then was hospitalized. Almost 24,000 cases ended up with wrong decisions due to Farak’s misconduct. One such case is Renaldo Penate’s case. He was in jail for selling heroin. But when the prosecutors found him not guilty, he got a different verdict. Sonja Farak is the one who consumed more drugs based on the tested samples.
Where Is Sonja Farak Now?
Thus, Sonja was charged for her act of
- Changing the evidence
- Stealing drugs
- Changing the ownership of illegal drugs
After consuming drugs in her workplace, she even started consuming them at her home itself. In the morning, she first consumes drugs at home before doing other works.
In 2014, she got a sentence to serve 18 months in prison along with five years of probation. Additionally, she got a sentence of 500 hours of community services. In 2015, she finished serving her sentence and living a low profile life now.
Conclusion:
To know more about Sonja Farak, one can watch this docu-series, ‘How to fix a drug scandal’ on Netflix. This will provide you with more details about Sonja Farak.
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