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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLab owner gets prison time for faking drug tests that cost parents custody of kids
?quality=90&strip=all&w=618&h=410&crop=1The former owner of an Alabama lab has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting to falsifying drug tests, causing multiple parents to lose custody of their kids, according to a report.
I know I did wrong, Brandy Murrah, 37, told her sentencing hearing last Thursday after pleading guilty to a felony charge of perjury as well as 16 misdemeanor counts of forgery, according to the Dothan Eagle.
Ive done a lot of things wrong in my life Im sorry for anyone I ever hurt. I really did not do this intentionally to ever hurt anyone, she told Judge William Filmore, with no motive giving for the forgeries.
Some of the parents who lost custody of their children because of the bogus results from Murrahs A&J Lab Collections in Ozark told the court of the pain Murrahs lies caused their families.
https://nypost.com/2020/11/20/lab-owner-jailed-for-faking-drug-tests-that-cost-parents-child-custody/
https://dothaneagle.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/lab-owner-sentenced-to-prison-over-falsified-tests/article_b6416354-2548-11eb-b676-5ff26e24cf21.html
In 2017, Grace Locke of Newton had her two children taken from her due to her drug use. She eventually entered rehab following an arrest. By 2019, Locke said she was clean and wanted to be reunited with her two older children after giving birth to her third child. But when she met with her case workers from the Department of Human Resources in Dale County to talk about a plan to regain custody, she received the news that her latest drug test had come back positive for methamphetamine and her babys test showed exposure. Her 3-month-old baby was taken from her during the meeting.
It was terrible, Locke told the court Thursday. I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest because I knew I was doing right with this one. I knew I was doing right.
She was tested again with negative results, but her baby was taken away from her for nearly three weeks.
I dont understand why anybody would ever do that to any family, any children, for no reason, Locke said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/alabama-lab-owner-is-jailed-for-15-years-for-forging-drug-test-results/ar-BB1bbxoT
Murrah, 37, previously owned A&J Lab Collections in the town of Ozark, where she would collect blood, urine and hair samples to send off to another center for testing.
According to prosecutors, Murrah owed money to that testing center and they were unwilling to extend her any further credit.
Thus, Murrah allegedly took matters into her own hands and began falsifying test results in order to save cash.
North Shore Chicago
(3,300 posts)So cruel.
ps I clicked on this post thinking it was going to be a story about a Lab, as in Labrador Retriever. Silly me.
no_hypocrisy
(46,010 posts)Not bad judgment. Not saving a few dollars.
Her decisions cost parents the custody of their children who were then adopted by other couples or put indefinitely put into foster care. WHEN THEIR PARENTS HAD NO DRUG ISSUES.
And you know who benefitted from these fraudulent results? The caseworkers. They get a monetary stipend for each child adopted. Their files were deficit but for the drug test results.
While Grace Locke didn't rip the children out of the arms of their parents, essentially it was the same effect.
My remedy: take away HER kids and let them be adopted.
And hey Princess! Wipe that smirk off your face for your mug shot.
marble falls
(56,993 posts)I don't get the justice of punishing her kids to get back at her. Is "getting even" a concept in criminal law?
no_hypocrisy
(46,010 posts)I'm talking about instilling a sense of empathy for the damage she's done to other families.
marble falls
(56,993 posts)... on crimes against children. She had a nervous collapse after about five years. Today I think she'd be diagnosed with PTSD. She ended up opening a toy store selling refurbished toys. We'd haunt Goodwill and Goodwill clearance stores. She had this almost spooky ability to identify the most crazy little piece of something as a part to toy sets that she wouldn't sell until they were complete.
I thought about volunteering for an organization dedicated to rescuing and helping abused children. I didn't. My reason was as a biker looking dude I was afraid that because these kids were mostly harmed by men I felt I would scare the kids. The real reason though is I just cannot emotionally handle the cruelty that had been handed to these kids. I teach art at the Boys and Girls club, instead.
I give you a huge amount of respect and great thanks for what you do. Its important work and its toll can be terrible.
mopinko
(69,982 posts)have something to calm you down when you watch it.
no_hypocrisy
(46,010 posts)I'm cynical now and can always become more cynical.
Thank you.
n_h
mopinko
(69,982 posts)it details exactly what you say- the profit motive of shitty placements.
LakeArenal
(28,798 posts)15 for each case.