Criminal Justice

Gov. Tom Wolf this week unveiled a plan to provide pardons for people who have been convicted of minor, non-violent marijuana crimes. It could affect thousands in the Lehigh Valley

Muhamad Diop is charged with making terroristic threats and harassment, authorities said.

Marquis Michael Watkins has been sentenced to life without parole in the shooting death of a Bethlehem woman in 2022, according to the Northampton County District Attorney's Office.

A Lehigh County judge has denied a request by Francis Anonia, the former Parkland School District performing arts administrator, to suppress videos allegedly recovered from his cell phone during an invasion of privacy investigation by county detectives.

Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio found the victim died of blunt force injuries after being struck by a vehicle. He ruled the manner of death as homicide.

Abviud Carvajal, of Allentown, after a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Nov. 18, was ordered to face county court on the charges, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said in a news release.

Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, did not sign the discharge petition that will force a vote on releasing the Epstein files on Tuesday. However, Mackenzie has said for months he would support the measure if it came to a vote.

Costas Alesta's motion to withdraw his guilty plea filed was denied by county judge Judge Samuel P. Murray in a one-page order filed Friday, Nov. 7, county District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta said.

Ti'Shaun Singleton was pronounced dead early Saturday evening, according to the Lehigh County Coroner's Office. The coroner ruled homicide as the manner of death.

LehighValleyNews.com, lehighvalleylive.com and The Morning Call have filed a joint motion seeking the release of sealed court records connected to a grand jury drug case investigation. The documents have been sealed for two months even though an order sealing at least one of them expired more than a month ago.

An attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press argued that a motion to unseal court dockets tied to a drug bust should be allowed to continue in Lehigh County Court. LehighValleyNews.com, lehighvalleylive.com and the Morning Call have joined in the effort to make the records public.

Brenda Rodriguez, 52, of Palmerton, is the final of three defendants to be sentenced in the Dec. 7, 2024, shooting death of her husband, Hector Garcia Gomez, in the parking lot of Loco Hot Deals, 1155 MacArthur Road.

Eric Dowdle led Lehigh County’s prosecution against two former Allentown vice officers before state attorneys took over those cases.

More than three dozen law enforcement professionals from the Lehigh Valley and beyond took part in the first training at the newly opened Joni Berner Esq ‘75-Expert Witness Training Center & Crime Scene Laboratory.