Criminal Justice

On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Senate Bill 37, known as Paul Miller’s Law, officially making Pennsylvania the 29th state in the nation to ban distracted driving.

Investigators used numerous city-operated surveillance cameras and license-plate readers, as well as input from witnesses and social media, to identify the suspects, said Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan.

Scott Curtis led the FBI's investigation into allegations of corruption against former Mayor Ed Pawlowski, who's serving a 15-year federal prison sentence.

The 75-year-old Pen Argyl man was filmed tangling with riot police outside the U.S. Capitol Building as Congress tallied votes for the 2020 presidential election, according to federal prosecutors.

Steven M. Rosa, 30, was charged with homicide in the July 28, 2022, killing of Tywon Deleva Abner, 33, of Allentown just after 11 p.m. in the 500 block of West Allen Street.

Scott Curtis was the FBI's lead investigator as it scrutinized allegations of corruption surrounding former Mayor Ed Pawlowski before he was hit with corruption-related charges in 2018.

Authorities on Monday identified the 25-year-old man shot to death early Saturday night at Fountain Park off Martin Luther King Drive in Allentown.

Parkland School District administrator Frank Anonia is the subject of an internal investigation. He was recently deposed in a lawsuit that alleges the district knew another teacher, Christian Willman, was sexually assaulting students but did nothing to stop it.

The victim was shot and died at Fountain Park in the 900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, authorities said. Police say anyone with information or video regarding the incident should call investigators at 610-437-7721.

Rami Abouloh is set to be sentenced Aug. 13; first-degree-murder convictions in Pennsylvania carry a mandatory life sentence.

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.