ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The top deputy in the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office left his job last week.
Eric Dowdle, named as first assistant district attorney in January 2024, worked his last day Friday, Oct. 31, according to a statement from DA Gavin Holihan.
Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen, who served as chief of prosecutions, was promoted to replace Dowdle.
Mulqueen has served in the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office for more than two decades after being hired by former DA Jim Martin.
Prosecuted Allentown cops
Dowdle led the Lehigh County DA’s prosecution of former Allentown vice officers accused of sexual assault, prostitution and other felonies.
Eric Dowdle chose to return to private practice.Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan
Jason Krasley, 48, of Upper Milford Township, faces dozens of charges stemming from alleged sexual assaults, some that date back more than a decade.
And suspended Allentown Sgt. Evan Weaver faces eight charges related to a sexual assault alleged to have occurred in 2011.
Holihan in August relinquished those cases to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office because of a potential conflict of interest with Dowdle.
Dowdle represented the boyfriend of a woman who alleges Krasley sexually abused her, Holihan has said.
The district attorney did not ask state prosecutors to take over Dowdle’s prosecution of Krasley for theft-related charges. He said Dowdle’s then-client was not linked to that case.
Krasley, who left Allentown Police Department in 2021, was accused of stealing $5,500 two years prior while he and other officers in the Vice and Intelligence Unit searched a barbershop.
The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office last month dropped all charges against Krasley stemming from those allegations.
Dowdle chose to return to private practice, Holihan said Monday, declining to comment further on his departure.
The now-former first assistant DA worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney for more than a quarter century in the Lehigh Valley before joining Holihan’s staff.
