Rigged: The Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal Podcast

About Rigged: The Massachusetts Drug Lab Scandal Podcast

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.

Publisher

Jamie Folk

Category

government · science · true crime

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

5 Jun 2020

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

14 of 85 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   S3E95 Anatomy of A Cover-Up: What Watergate and The Massachusetts Forensic Lab Scandals Teach Us About Institutional Decay

   Hosts Jamie, Ilyas, and Chris explore how Watergate and the Massachusetts Forensic Lab scandals reveal institutional decay and the pursuit of power.

2. 

   3 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   S3E940 Cannabis Executive Testifies Against Suffolk Sheriff - Punching Up with Jamie - Punching Up With Jamie Folk

   Host Jamie Folk interviews a cannabis executive who testifies against the Suffolk Sheriff in an extortion trial, revealing crucial insights into the legal battle.

3. 

   1 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   S3E93.0 State College Drug Ring Analysis | Punching Up with Jamie

   Host Jamie analyzes the State College drug ring, offering insights into its operations and impact.

Inside a recent episode

S3E95 Anatomy of A Cover-Up: What Watergate and The Massachusetts Forensic Lab Scandals Teach Us About Institutional Decay

Published 20 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] But today, I don't know if a president would resign. And that's sort of scary because we teach ourselves that Watergate is our system working, right? Watergate is the media, you know, checks and balances. And the reality is, I mean, you just said it, pardon, he was pardoned like the president. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

24 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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