Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal E3E79 RIGGEDLabs Awareness Podcast - Episode 79.0 of SEASON 3 - RIGGEDLabs Podcast

Episode 79

full
Published on:

26th May 2026

E3E79 RIGGEDLabs Awareness Podcast - Episode 79.0 of SEASON 3

In this episode, once again, Jamie Folk takes us for a guided tour behind the scenes at the breaking point of the operations of the forensic drug testing laboratories scandals in Massachusetts and the birth of RIGGEDLabs Podcast in 2020 - six years ago!

Several innocent victims of the Massachusetts drug testing labs scandals remain wrongfully convicted to this day by our criminal justice system.

RIGGEDLabs Podcast prides itself on being the unique podcast, digital platform, and thinking framework dedicated to help its listeners build protective and defensive awareness against dishonest manipulations of forensic evidence in rigged laboratories and evidence rooms across the United States.

Established in 2020, RIGGEDLabs Podcast started by exposing widespread evidence falsifications, wrongful convictions, corruptions, cover ups, and waste of the tax payers’ funds resulting from the Massachusetts forensic labs scandals that were uncovered from 2011 forward.

With the courageous dedication of a team passionate researchers, legal experts, committed storytellers, and their reputable guests; “RIGGED:” has expanded its efforts to reaching a growing listenership, building a devoted community, advocating for the innocent victims of wrongful convictions, and demanding accountability, corrective change, and reform in our criminal justice system.

  • Listen to RIGGEDLabs Awareness Podcast on the website at Podcast.RIGGEDLabs.com or on your favorite podcast platform.
  • Join RIGGEDLabs Awareness Community on Patreon or Facebook.
  • Support RIGGEDLabs at Support.RIGGEDLabs.com
  • Subscribe to RIGGEDLabs Monthly Newsletter.
  • Shop RIGGEDLabs Awareness GEAR SHOP.
  • Buy The Book on Amazon.

Please, share, and

Thank you for listening!

E3E79.0 RIGGEDLabs Awareness Podcast - Episode 79.0 of SEASON 3

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Support RIGGEDLabs Podcast

A huge thank you to our supporters, it means a lot that you support our podcast.

If you like the podcast and want to support it, too, you can leave us a tip using the button below. We really appreciate it and it only takes a moment!
Support RIGGEDLabs Podcast
A
We haven’t had any Tips yet :( Maybe you could be the first!

Listen for free

Show artwork for RIGGEDLabs Podcast

About the Podcast

RIGGEDLabs Podcast
Hosts Jamie Folk and Ilyas Rona take a deep dive into the case responsible for the greatest violation of constitutional rights in Massachusetts history
On September 28, 2012, Massachusetts state chemist Annie Dookhan was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and falsification of academic records. Approximately four months later another chemist, Sonja Farak, was arrested for using the drugs she was supposed to be testing and the Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal was born.

Hosts Jamie Folk and Ilyas Rona will be exploring the William H Hinton, UMass Amherst and State Police crime labs associated with this scandal and speak with the lawyers whose clients rights were violated as a result of the fraud committed by the chemists in these labs. Through their investigation of this case, Folk and Rona have found that the crimes of Dookhan and Farak were just the tip of the iceberg and that multiple chemists from three state labs lied on the stand, knowingly sent people to jail for possessing drugs that were not illegal and wanted to help law enforcement send as many people to jail as possible.

Jamie Folk is an independent journal who has been investigating this case since Dookhan's arrest was first reported. He has obtained over 70k documents from the state and has interviewed several lawyers, journalists, politicians, law enforcement officials and others connected with the case over the past 7 years.

Ilyas Rona is a lawyer who represented a man sent to prison by Dookhan and another Hinton lab chemist for possessing what turned out to be a cashew for two years. He has been investigating the Hinton, Amherst and State Police labs ever since.

Season 3 begins the exploration of cases outside of Massachusetts in the hope of shining a light on other drug lab scandals throughout the country.
Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for James Folk

James Folk

Jamie Folk has been researching and reporting on the Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal since 2013. He has worked in the biotech industry around Boston for the past 17 years in the Quality Assurance space. He was a volunteer with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections from 2010 to 2015 running the Alternatives to Violence (AVP) workshops for inmates and met many victims of these labs in prison.