Sonja Farak Today: Where Is She Now?

The latest true crime offering from Netflix is the documentary series “How to Fix a Drug Scandal.” It dives into the story of Sonja Farak, a chemist who worked for a Massachusetts state drug lab and got arrested for taking the drugs she was testing as well as tampering with evidence.

The Netflix show highlights not only the arrest and trial of Farak, but also the missteps taken by the state to ignore the extent of the cases affected by Farak’s actions. Farak worked at the Amherst Lab since the summer of 2004 and she started taking the lab’s drugs soon after. She was arrested on January 19, 2013. On January 6, 2014, Farak pled guilty to the charges against her.

Many people watching the show are wondering: where is Sonja Farak now?

The Former Chemist at the Amherst Lab Is No Longer in Prison

Very little is known about Farak, the former chemist at the state’s drug lab, since she has kept a very low profile, even more so after her release from prison. She was sentenced in January 2014 after she pled guilty to four counts of theft of a controlled substance from an authorized dispensary, four counts of tampering with evidence and two counts of cocaine possession. She received an 18-month jail sentence.

According to a Rolling Stone profile on Farak and the case, the former chemist has not been heard from since her release. They wrote that she served 13 months and was paroled sometime in 2015.

She has kept a low profile but has been spotted in court for civil cases related to her own case, including in 2018. In 2017, Rolando Penate filed a $5.7 million lawsuit against 18 defendants, including Farak. Penate is just one of the thousands of people whose cases were affected by Farak’s actions. Court records showed that Farak was smocking crack and dropping acid on the same day that she tested the drugs in Penate’s case.

She Decided to Represent Herself in a Civil Case in Federal Court

In the civil suit, she filed her own answer to the lawsuit and hired the services of attorney Susan Sachs. With her response, she only listed a Hatfield, Mass. post office box as her contact information. That is as much public exposure as she’s opened herself up to since her release from jail.

In her response to the lawsuit, Farak wrote: “I agree that I began stealing and using the state lab’s supply of methamphetamine oil, but I do not recall if it was late 2004 or early 2005 so I cannot agree with the year stated.”

Previously to her arrest, Farak lived in Laurel Park, Northampton in Massachusetts. She purchased a home there in 2006. It’s unclear if she still owns the property and if she lives there now.

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