Pubdate: Fri, 22 Nov 2013
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Contact:  2013 The Boston Herald, Inc
Website: http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Author: O'Ryan Johnson

FORMER STATE DRUG LAB CHEMIST DOOKHAN GETS 3-5 YEARS

The disgraced former state drug lab chemist at the center of the 
state drug lab scandal that resulted in more than a 1,000 criminal 
cases being dismissed has been sentenced to three to five years in prison.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol S. Ball accepted Annie Dookhan's 
guilty plea during a hearing today.

Dookhan, 36, of Franklin, mishandled evidence and faked test results 
at the state drug lab in Jamaica Plain. She pleaded guilty to 
obstruction of justice, perjury and tampering with evidence.

Dookhan also will serve two years of probation upon completion of her 
prison sentence.

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office had requested a sentence of 
five to seven years.

"Annie Dookhan's egregious misconduct sent ripple effects throughout 
our entire criminal justice system," Coakley said. "Her deliberate 
decision to tamper with drug evidence and fabricate test results 
harmed the integrity of the system and put the public's safety at risk."

Prosecutors said Dookhan admitted to testing only a fraction of a 
batch of samples, then listing them all as positive for illegal 
drugs, to "improve her productivity and burnish her reputation."

Since the lab closed in August 2012, at least 1,100 criminal cases 
have been dismissed or not prosecuted because of tainted evidence or 
other fallout from the lab's shutdown.
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