ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Some documents related to the arrest of a Lehigh County commissioner and several others are publicly available, yet details remain unclear.
Commissioner Zachary Cole-Borghi was among more than two dozen people arrested in a large-scale drug investigation in August.
However, criminal case dockets in many of those cases remained unavailable until a Lehigh County judge ordered late last month that they be unsealed.
The ruling came after The Morning Call, LehighValleyNews.com and lehighvalleylive.com, represented by the Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press, jointly petitioned the court to intervene in the cases to make them public record.
Cole-Borghi's docket has been made public, yet the affidavit of probable cause, which would detail the allegations against him, refers only to a grand jury presentment.
That presentment remains sealed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Lehigh County Clerk of Courts.
Cole-Borghi remains charged with felony drug possession with intent to deliver and a misdemeanor of possessing a controlled substance. He is free on $50,000 bail. He has denied the charges.
When the arrests were initially announced, Cole-Borghi was the only one identified. Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said it was done to dispel rumors that Cole-Borghi played a large role in the criminal operation.
Cole-Borghi was taken into custody at Bethlehem City Hall, where he had been employed as the city's Right to Know officer until his arrest.
Judge Thomas Caffrey ordered the dockets unsealed late last month.
The charges announced over the summer followed a three-year grand jury investigation into an alleged interstate drug ring.
Investigators discovered two "clandestine" labs manufacturing THC, seized more than $100,000 in cash and more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, pills and at least 25 firearms, according to officials. The investigation spanned four states.
The three media outlets have identified a total of 32 people arrested in the case. A few of them, including Cole-Borghi, have their preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning.