Criminal Justice

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone introduced a new ordinance at the board's Wednesday meeting that would see marijuana possession and use reduced to summary offenses with fines.

Wilson Borough Council officially vacated the seat of Scott Palinkas at their Monday meeting, citing his numerous absences and public conduct as justifications for the decision.

Wilson borough solicitor Stan Margle III acknowledged drug charges levied against him at Monday's council meeting, with members of council expressing support as he faces drug possession charges.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released further details of the arrest made at Northampton County Prison on Friday, again accusing Northampton County Prison of not cooperating. County Executive Lamont McClure challenges that.

Tracy Dechant, 42, the twins' mother, and Joshua Dechant, 36, their stepfather, were arrested Jan. 26, days after emaciated 15-year-old twin boys were found in their Lower Macungie Township home.

Federal agents were at Northampton County Prison on Friday morning to apprehend an inmate upon his release. The man was alleged to be in the country illegally. The level of cooperation between ICE agents and the county has come under attack by U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.

Wilson Borough solicitor and attorney Stanley Margle III has been charged with possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Three Bethlehem residents face hundreds of charges related to a scheme that involves over 130 victims in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. If you believe you’ve been a victim of such a scheme, Bethlehem police ask you to call 610-997-7682.

Cedar Crest College will use a $608,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department for creation of an Expert Witness Training Center and Crime Scene Lab.

Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle L. Kott and Mayor J. William Reynolds released a joint statement Monday calling a proposed "welcoming ordinance" regarding federal immigration policies unnecessary in the city.

The GEO Group, one of the world's largest private prison companies, publicly considered building a detention center in Upper Mount Bethel Township in 2010. The project instead went to Newark, where Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested earlier this year after seeking to tour the facility.

Authorities charged the Fountain Hill teen with three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of recklessly endangering others and a single count of carrying a firearm without a license.

The shooter fired a single shot after the other driver got out of his car and attacked him with a baseball bat, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office. The dead man is a 35-year-old from Whitehall, the coroner said.

The gunman showed up uninvited at a gathering outside a borough home late on the Fourth of July, borough police said. He fled after shooting three people as well as apparently accidentally shooting himself in the leg, the police chief said. The 18-year-old is being charged with several assault and weapons crimes.

The $2.75 million payment to the federal government resolves allegations that a pharmacy technician stole controlled substances on about 40 occasions and the health network failed to institute proper controls.

More than two years after the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, the former Northampton Community College and DeSales University student pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

Multiple media outlets report Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. A change of plea hearing is set for Wednesday. Kohberger’s trial had been set to begin in August

Jorge Gonzalez, 40, is accused of killing 85-year-old Elian Makdsi in October 2023 as he was in the intersection at North Jerome Street and Union Boulevard.

Christopher Fitzgerald was a former Lehigh County corrections officer and is the son of former Allentown Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald. He was the first Temple University officer killed in the line of duty.

Northampton County officials appointed a new sheriff Wednesday: Christopher Zieger, formerly the department’s second-in-command.

The former West Easton clerk is charged with three felonies for allegedly accepting cash payments for residents' bills but never depositing the money in a borough account. He never returned to work after being sent a text informing him of his suspension in 2023, court records show.

Police said Amir Sims-Watson, 17, opened fire on a group of pedestrians in Allentown before robbing a woman at gunpoint at Trexler Middle School. Two other teens are charged in the shooting.