Criminal Justice

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.

After his ousting in August 2023, Nadeem Shahzad pledged to sue the city for terminating him without cause.

Alfeni Romero-Taveras, 22, of Allentown, was charged Friday in the June 1, 2024, death of Angel Martinez-Velez on a basketball court at Fountain Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Gun violence in Pennsylvania has gone up in the pandemic. Pennsylvania State Police data show it’s risen 50% statewide.

The student alleged police roughed him up after a brawl at a high school basketball game in 2020.

Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca, appointed just last month, said investigations are underway. In fact, an arrest has been made in the fatal shooting and it’s not time for knee-jerk reactions.

The First Lady of Pennsylvania met recently with women who have been incarcerated in order to learn about the challenges they face when reentering society.

A group of East Coast states will now let law enforcement agencies share gun crime data.

Texas-based pipeline builder Energy Transfer faces 48 criminal charges related to construction of its Mariner East pipeline project, including a felony count of failing to report pollution.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Advocates are calling for a review of how Lehigh County spends money on criminal justice. And, they are pushing for it to be part of next…

The five-member panel in charge of state legislative redistricting says several thousand state prisoners should be counted in the districts where they're imprisoned.

As of Sept. 17, nearly half the holding areas in the Northampton County Prison were in quarantine due to what officials are calling a “delta outbreak.” Cases have jumped this month from almost none at the end of August to now more than 30 among inmates and employees.

The Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office recently received accreditation from The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

COVID-19 cases are on the rise at the Northampton County Prison (NCP) where just under half of the jail’s nearly 600 inmates are vaccinated.

By a unanimous decision, Allentown City Council named Charles Roca the city’s new chief of police.