Criminal Justice

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced the decision Wednesday after an investigation by Allentown Police Department and Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.

Xiaomin Fei, 34, on Thursday entered the plea in the June 3 shooting deaths of Robert and Gretchen Ackerman, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta announced.

Santos Mota-Ramirez, 61, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of attempted homicide, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple assault, arson and causing a catastrophe, District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said.

Yunior Peralta-Quintana, 23, of Allentown, was convicted Friday by a Lehigh County Court jury after a four-day trial before Judge Anna-Kristie M. Marks.

Amazon driver Troy Johnson, 30, of Philadelphia, also was ordered to face court on a felony count of accidents involving death and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person.

The Lehigh County Coroner's Office said the 27-year-old died Saturday night at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest — hours after being shot during a standoff with Pennsylvania State Police in a North Whitehall Township driveway.

Yaniel Fermin, 17, is charged with homicide, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances and possession of a firearm by a minor in the death of Jeomy Miguel Soto, 19. Soto was shot Thursday in Allentown.

Three unidentified juveniles were charged with criminal mischief in connection with the damages, which cost the city about $47,000.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has used county office space but hasn't paid rent in three years despite a 2022 memorandum of understanding, county officials said. Said Controller Mark Pinsley: "We're going to deport ICE."

A county judge heard arguments Friday for and against releasing the two pages from a sealed grand jury presentment that deals with the drug-charge allegations against Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi, of Bethlehem.

A 29-year-old former Parkland student, who lived in a home owned by district performing arts director Frank Anonia, was sentenced to county prison last month on a charge of possessing child pornography.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced on Friday that six persons have been charged in a large-scale burglary ring throughout the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas.

A Palmer Township police officer has been arrested for allegedly sending inappropriate images of himself to an underage Easton Area High School student, authorities said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that a Lehigh County man has been sentenced to prison for his role in a January 2023 shooting in Allentown.

Northampton County officials said Wednesday that while a staffing crisis at the county's juvenile justice center has eased over the past few months, they are still turning kids away because of a worker shortage.

Bryan Kohberger, charged in the killings of 4 University of Idaho students, resided in Monroe County, Pa., and is a graduate of DeSales University and Northampton Community College.

An Easton woman is facing numerous charges after investigators said she smuggled a cell phone and drugs into Northampton County Prison — items later found in possession of two inmates.

Jorge Suarez-Santiago, 34, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Jayleen Rivas-Rodriguez, 35, of Allentown, have had warrants issued for their arrest, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said.

Skill games — those machines that look like slot machines in convenience stores and taverns across Pennsylvania — are a potential public safety threat because they deal in cash in places that generally have little or no security procedures in place, according to the state district attorneys association.

Christian Joel Gonzalez Santiago, 29, last month pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor, in the July 31, 2022, crash on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.

Helen Teresa Knieriem and Roy T. Knieriem, both 76, were found in the home at 2359 Taylor Drive following a phone call to 911, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office.

Jose Hilario Abreu, 29, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in which the victim is less than 12 years old in the March 28 death of Elijah Abreu Borgen, Holihan said.