Court asked to levy fines for misconduct in lab scandal

BOSTON — Attorneys are asking Massachusetts’ highest court to levy fines against the state attorney general’s office because former prosecutors tried to minimize the scope of a state drug lab scandal.

Matthew Segal of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts told the Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday that sanctions are necessary to prevent such misconduct from happening again.

A judge found that two former assistant attorneys general withheld evidence about the scope of former chemist Sonja Farak’s misconduct. Farak pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from a state drug lab.

MassLive.com reports that Assistant Attorney General Thomas Bocian told the judges that fines aren’t justified and there are already measures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The ACLU is also asking the court to toss additional convictions linked to Farak.