A former employee of the State Crime Lab in Anchorage has been charged with six felonies, including drug misconduct and tampering with evidence.
The Department of Law in says 53-year-old Stephen Palmer was arrested today.
He’s charged with scheme to defraud, drug misconduct and four counts of evidence tampering. He’s also charged with four misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.
Alaska State Troopers launched an investigation seven months ago after detecting irregularities in lab reference standards, the controlled samples of illegal drugs kept at the state crime lab.
Prosecutors say investigators also determined drug evidence was missing in cases worked by Palmer.
Prosecutors say they don’t believe the irregularities discovered in reference standards affected the validity of testing performed by other analysts.
