Criminal Justice

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.

Two men are in Northampton County Prison after a traffic stop and vehicle search yielded the seizure of about 20,000 fentanyl pills.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced Thursday that an Allentown man charged in a fatal shooting outside a child's birthday party last year has been sentenced. He will serve 11 ½ to 28 years in state prison in the death of an Alburtis man.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has filed an emergency motion in Lehigh County Court requesting that a judge unseal documents in at least 22 criminal cases tied to an interstate drug ring. Among the defendants is Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi.

City officials last week were not able to comment if other city employees were currently subjects of the investigation following the arrest of Zachary Cole-Borghi.

A Lehigh County judge will soon decide whether to throw out potentially key evidence in the prosecution of a former Parkland High School administrator.

Police say evidence of a shooting was at 11th and Church Streets, and three teenage males wearing dark clothing and black masks fled from the location.

Asa the horse, a beloved member of Bethlehem Mounted Unit, will hang up his horseshoes and step into the easy life at his final Bridles & Badges Open House event.

Parkland High School teachers reported suspected misconduct by ex-performing arts administrator Frank Anonia more than a decade before his arrest on charges of secretly recording a student in a dressing room, a former teacher testified. Anonia is due in court for a criminal trial this week.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said Zach Cole-Borghi was one of 22 people taken into custody Thursday as part of an ongoing grand jury investigation. Cole-Borghi was arrested Thursday at his job at Bethlehem City Hall. A city official today said he is no longer employed by the city.

State prosecutors took over four cases against former Allentown officer Jason Krasley. The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office will continue prosecuting Krasley on charges related to a 2019 theft.

The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office handed cases against two former Allentown vice officers to the Pennsylvania Attorney’s General’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest.

A few dozen drivers, both behind the wheel and walking — and with a quick showing of their vehicle registration and proof of insurance — had come through for their free wheel lock as of 30 minutes into the event.

Troopers said the incident began around 5:25 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20 when an undercover member of Troop M’s vice unit saw a vehicle pull into the Knights Inn.

State police say they clocked an underage, intoxicated driver in a vehicle traveling 109 mph on Route 378, and he had five underage, intoxicated passengers in the car who admitted coming from and consuming alcohol at Musikfest.

South Whitehall Police Department's K-9, Drax, is retiring from the force after seven years of service, and taking up the easy life with his longtime work partner and handler.