Criminal Justice

Easton City Council has officially adopted a change that will see possession and use of small amounts of marijuana reduced to a citation and fine as opposed to a misdemeanor crime.

Earlier Wednesday, Bethlehem Police Department said in a release that shortly before 7 a.m., it "received a courtesy notification from agents with the Department of Homeland Security that federal agents were actively searching" for the individual. The search involved the area of the 500 block of East 3rd Street, police said.

Between March 2020 and September 2023, Louis Belletieri transferred millions from an escrow account to his personal and business accounts, according to federal prosecutors.

More than a dozen volunteers on Tuesday committed their service to the community’s schoolchildren who find themselves at odds with the law for the first time.

Jason Krasley also is due to stand trial on numerous charges stemming from alleged sexual assaults in 2011 and 2015 when he served on the city’s Vice and Intelligence Unit.

Eileen Miller, whose son Paul Miller was killed in a collision by a distracted driver, on Friday spoke on a piece of legislation that bans the use of handheld devices while driving in Pennsylvania.

An Allentown woman was charged with possession of a quarter pound of synthetic opioid fentanyl, District Attorney Stephen Baratta announced Wednesday.

Authorities including District Attorney Stephen Baratta and the Palmer Township Police have confirmed a man was apprehended and charged for shooting and killing his in-laws at a 55+ community Tuesday night.

Latasha Santiago, 36, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy tocommit robbery, a first-degree felony, in the Oct. 17, 2020, shooting death of Christian Lopez-Rodriguez, 21, of Allentown.

LaTarsha Brown is accused of falsely reporting that she found a noose Jan. 10 on her desk in the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development.

ICE agents have agreed not to wear masks and to present ID and warrants when operating inside the Lehigh County Courthouse. But county officials declined to spell out specific procedures for ICE inside the courthouses.

The drowning death of a Hanover Township, Northampton County, child in July has been ruled accidental, the district attorney said.

On a narrow residential street, Etienne Theagene was driving 40.7 mph when he struck and killed Edward Tomcics, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.

Edward Tomcics was fatally struck on the night of Dec. 25 outside his home on Water Street. More than seven months later, authorities charged the man who hit him.

Officials on Thursday said Allentown YMCA will open its shelter at least six weeks early this year to serve some residents of a homeless encampment who are being evicted.

Authorities in Allentown arrested a pair of brothers on drug charges Thursday morning, and seized nearly half a million dollars worth of cocaine at one of their homes.

Easton City Council opted to remove a Welcoming City ordinance from its Wednesday agenda, leading to a debate among council and the public as to the need for and intent of the legislation.

Yandiel Onil Gonzalez, 16, surrendered to authorities Wednesday and will be charged as an adult, police said in a news release. The shooting occurred July 12 on South Side.

A recent ruling from Pennsylvania's Supreme Court seemingly marks a major shift in how DUI cases can be prosecuted, with the court ruling that if a driver hasn’t been previously convicted, the state can’t punish them as if they were.

Residents who spoke to LehighValleyNews.com said they don’t know where they will go; the camp near Tilghman Street was an oasis for many who previously lived alone or in small groups.

Bethlehem police responded just after midnight, at 12:12 a.m., to reports of gunfire at Sizzling Bites, at 312 E. 3rd St.

LaTarsha Brown, an Allentown School Board member, was accepted Thursday into the Lehigh County’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program.