The former owner of an Alabama testing lab was sentenced to prison last week for falsifying drug test results that prosecutors say cost multiple parents custody of their children.
Brandy Murrah, 37, was sentenced on Nov. 12 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in September to one felony charge of perjury and 16 misdemeanor counts of forgery, the Dothan Eagle reported.
Before her sentencing, Murrah admitted wrongdoing to Judge William Filmore and apologized for the hurt she caused others.
“I’ve done a lot of things wrong in my life,” Murrah told the court. “I’m sorry for anyone I ever hurt. I really did not do this intentionally to ever hurt anyone.”
Murrah was arrested in Ozark, Ala., in 2019 on charges of fabricating drug screening results processed by her lab, A&J Lab Collections.
Multiple parents who were denied custody of their children based on Murrah’s fabricated drug test results shared their stories in court last week.
“I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest because I knew I was doing right with this one,” said Grace Locke, according to the Dothan Eagle. Her 3-month-old baby was taken away from her for three weeks in 2017 after her drug test results falsely showed that she was positive for methamphetamine.
“I don’t understand why anybody would ever do that to any family, any children, for no reason,” Locke said.