Criminal Justice

"Behind Closed Doors: Opening Conversations That Matter" brought panelists to the Northampton County Courthouse to discuss domestic violence and the role the law plays.

A Lehigh County detective Monday explained his process for obtaining a cell phone from Francis Anonia, Parkland School District's former performing arts administrator charged with secretly recording a student changing clothes. Anonia's lawyer asked a judge to throw out key evidence in the case.

Christian Martinez-Ramos, 36, was sentenced Monday to 30 to 60 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to murder and conspiracy to commit murder, according to authorities.

A 22-year-old Allentown man has been charged in connection with a 2024 fatal shooting at Fountain Park in Allentown. He is one of four people charged in the shooting death of Angel Martinez-Velez.

Michael Breisch, of Wind Gap, was accused of killing Rose Josephine Hnath, a 78-year-old widow, in her North Whitehall Township home in January 1989, when he was 30 years old.

State police at Fogelsville said the boy died after being taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest on Thursday afternoon.

The false bomb threat prompted a 90-minute evacuation at Allen High School on Thursday. Police are investigating.

The former Nazareth Area and Ohio State University wrestling star enrolled in an ARD program. Charges of unlicensed gun possession and drug possession are likely to be dismissed upon completion of the program.

Authorities did not name the boys — ages 14 and 15 — as they announced charges of terroristic charges and assault by physical menace.

Grelvis Estevez Cabrera, of Bethlehem, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for the June 1, 2024, killing of 25-year-old Angel Martinez-Velez.

Police are warning folks not to deposit mail in the dropbox outside the Palmer branch of the Easton Post Office. They say several checks have been stolen from the mail.

Starting this summer, the Bethlehem Police Department will use stop-arm cameras to capture and enforce illegal school bus passing in its jurisdiction.

The virtual town hall will be streamed on Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday. Lehigh Valley Stands Up is planning to host an in-person watch party.

A Northampton County jury found Christopher Ferrante not guilty of drug delivery resulting in death Tuesday, while convicting him on six lesser charges.

Testimony in the trial of Christopher Ferrante, charged in the 2020 overdose death of Michael Racciato, concluded Monday with Ferrante himself, along with his handler in the Allentown Police Department.

Body camera footage caught Phil Racciato identifying Christopher Ferrante to police as the alleged drug supplier who he says routinely provided his son Michael "Mikey" Racciato with illicit drugs.

Prosecutors presented data pulled from the cell phones of former state champion Pen Argyl wrestler Michael Racciato and defendant Christopher Ferrante, who stands accused of providing the fentanyl that led to Racciato's death in a Lower Nazareth Township parking lot.

Michael "Mikey" Racciato's father recounted the events leading up to his son's death in December 2020, including multiple overdoses, visits to rehab facilities and eventually discovering his son dead from a fentanyl overdose.

Northampton County's district attorney's office is touting $168,000 in drug money that law enforcement has confiscated.

The trial of Christopher Ferrante, charged in connection with the overdose death of Michael Racciato, began Monday. The case attracted scrutiny during the race for Northampton County District Attorney earlier this year.

Lawyers for Christopher Ferrante, charged with drug delivery resulting in death, told the court Monday he conducted at least two undercover drug buys for Allentown police.

The Salisbury Township Police Department is using humor on Facebook to foster connections and bridge a gap to reach people of all ages across the township and beyond. But there's a purpose to their punchlines, and the attention they've garnered seems to be working.