January 21, 2013
Chemist at State Crime Lab Arrested
With the state court system reeling from Annie Dookhan's alleged misdeeds at the now-shuttered drug lab in Jamaica Plain, a second chemist at a crime lab in Amherst is being charged with tampering with drug evidence, authorities announced. The allegations in the case against Sonja Farak, 35, of Northampton, are vastly different than those in the Dookhan matter, Attorney General Martha Coakley told reporters this afternoon. While Dookhan is accused of falsely certifying that she completed tests of suspected drug samples after a mere visual examination, Farak allegedly tested two samples -- one believed to be heroin and one cocaine -- early this month and then replaced the drugs with counterfeit substances, Coakley said. Read more...
