RIGGEDLabs UNRIGGED! Podcast podcast

RIGGEDLabs UNRIGGED! 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.

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.

 

#46

RIGGEDLabs UNRIGGED! Podcast | S3 E2 -Justin Volk Case Overview

Welcome to RIGGEDLabs UNRIGGED! Podcast | Season 3 Episode 2. In this episode we will revi... more

20 Oct 2025

45 MINS

45:27

20 Oct 2025


#45

Civil Asset Forfeiture AKA Legal Theft

Ilyas and Jamie take a break from the drug lab to do a deep dive into what drives the stat... more

19 Mar 2023

1 HR 22 MINS

1:22:20

19 Mar 2023


#44

OIG Criminal Referrals for Multiple Hinton Chemists and Lab Director

The Massachusetts Inspector General made criminal referrals for multiple Hinton Lab Chemis... more

21 Feb 2023

1 HR 43 MINS

1:43:52

21 Feb 2023


#43

Criminal Charges Recommending for Chemists Lying about Drug Classifications and Rigged Testing

So the Massachusetts Inspector General's Office told all the DAs in the state that they we... more

16 Feb 2023

1 HR 19 MINS

1:19:32

16 Feb 2023


#42

OIG Finally Admits Dookhan isn't the lone bad actor

We have been saying it for years but now, thanks to the release of new documents from the ... more

15 Feb 2023

1 HR 08 MINS

1:08:36

15 Feb 2023


#41

We Swear The Worcester PD Aren't Tyrants

As a police officer, how do you prove to a pastor who calls you a tyrant that you are, ind... more

25 Nov 2022

1 HR 00 MINS

1:00:20

25 Nov 2022


#40

The Tragedy Of Kevin Burnham

Jamie, Chris and Ilyas discuss the inditement of former Massachusetts Police Union head Da... more

08 Nov 2022

1 HR 42 MINS

1:42:18

08 Nov 2022


#39

Middlesex County Court Decision on the Drug Lab

In another example of the system walking slowly toward doing the right thing in the drug l... more

14 Oct 2022

1 HR 21 MINS

1:21:04

14 Oct 2022


#38

Framingham Police Madness

Closing out our review of the Madness within the Framingham PD, Ilyas and Jamie discuss th... more

18 Aug 2022

1 HR 28 MINS

1:28:36

18 Aug 2022


#37

Luke Ryan Returns to Discuss 14 Million Dollar Drug Lab Settlement

Luke is back to discuss the recent news that he has reached an agreement with the state of... more

12 Jun 2022

1 HR 08 MINS

1:08:39

12 Jun 2022


#36

Public Records Requests with Andrew Quemere

Andrew Quemere from The Mass Dump comes on and reviews the state of public records and tra... more

10 Jun 2022

1 HR 40 MINS

1:40:16

10 Jun 2022


#35

Interview with Rick Holmes on the Murder of Eurie Stamps and Beating of Mark Tinsley by the Framingh...

Before Briana Taylor and George Floyd there was Eurie Stamps. Eurie was a devoted father a... more

14 Apr 2022

1 HR 06 MINS

1:06:57

14 Apr 2022


#34

Real Cost of Prisons with Lois Ahrens

Chris was unavailable for this episode so it was just Jamie and Ilyas talking about the Re... more

08 Mar 2022

1 HR 41 MINS

1:41:06

08 Mar 2022


#33

Interview With MassLive and Republican Reporter Stephanie Barry

Chris, Ilyas and Jamie interview MassLive and Republican reporter Stephanie Barry about he... more

16 Feb 2022

56 MINS

56:28

16 Feb 2022


#32

Audio of Springfield Detective Greg Bigda Threatening to Murder Teenagers

To say that this episode is disturbing is a major understatement. Jamie, Ilyas and Chris r... more

03 Feb 2022

1 HR 37 MINS

1:37:05

03 Feb 2022


#31

The Federal Investigation Into The Springfield Police Department Part 2

The second half of our review of the federal investigation of the Springfield Police Depar... more

30 Nov 2021

57 MINS

57:25

30 Nov 2021


#30

The Federal Investigation Into The Springfield Police Department Part 1

Luke Ryan returns to discuss the Department of Justice's 2018 investigation into the Sprin... more

25 Nov 2021

59 MINS

59:11

25 Nov 2021


#29

The Class E Debacle Part 2: Electric Bugaloo

The conclusion of our look into the state's intentional misclassification of Class E drugs... more

01 Nov 2021

49 MINS

49:52

01 Nov 2021


#28

The Class E Debacle Part 1

Chris, Ilyas and Jamie discuss the biggest story no one has ever talked about with this ca... more

27 Oct 2021

59 MINS

59:08

27 Oct 2021


#27

Response To The OIG's Supplemental Report

Jamie, Ilyas and Chris review lawyer Nathan Tamulis' Feburary 2016 response to the Massach... more

16 Sep 2021

2 HR 00 MINS

2:00:38

16 Sep 2021


#26

The OIG's Supplemental Report Part 2

Ilyas, Chris and Jamie go through the rest of the OIG's Supplemental report. They discuss ... more

27 Jul 2021

1 HR 18 MINS

1:18:57

27 Jul 2021


#25

The OIG's Supplemental Report Part 1

Jamie, Ilyas and Chris begin season 2 of Rigged by covering the latest news on the former ... more

17 Jul 2021

1 HR 33 MINS

1:33:15

17 Jul 2021


#24

Intro To Season 2 of Rigged

Season two of Rigged is kicked off with Ilyas, Jamie and Chris giving a preview of what is... more

06 Jul 2021

21 MINS

21:00

06 Jul 2021


#23

Season 1 Finale Amherst Lab Operations

As it turns out, Annie Dookhan wasn't the only chemist who was friendly with the DAs. In t... more

26 Mar 2021

1 HR 07 MINS

1:07:58

26 Mar 2021


#22

Amherst Lab Operations Part 1 Luke Ryan Returns

In the penultimate episode of season 1 of Rigged, Luke Ryan returns to discuss the Amherst... more

16 Mar 2021

49 MINS

49:42

16 Mar 2021


#21

Hinton Lab Operations Part 5

After reviewing thousands of documents regarding the investigations Massachusetts did into... more

01 Mar 2021

1 HR 17 MINS

1:17:16

01 Mar 2021