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Sonja Farak a chemist at a Massachusetts state crime lab tampered with drug evidence, authorities said. (AP Photo/Massachusetts Attorney General)
A grand jury has indicted five employees of the Massachusetts …
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Chemist pleads not guilty to tampering
Lawyer says her client has no prior record
Updated: Tuesday, 22 Jan 2013, 10:43 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 22 Jan 2013, 10:43 PM EST
BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts crime lab chemist accused of tampering with evidence and stealing drugs has pleaded not guilty.
Sonja Farak was arraigned Tuesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, where bail was set at $5,000.
Authorities say in one case, the 35-year-old Northampton woman stole a drug that tested positive for cocaine and replaced it with a counterfeit substance.
The lab contacted state police on Friday to report a discrepancy in inventory. The Amherst lab where Farak worked has been closed temporarily, and chemists transferred to another one.
Farak's lawyer says her client has no prior record.
Farak's case is not connected to the case of Annie Dookhan, who has been accused of faking test results at a Boston drug lab. She has pleaded not guilty.
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