Criminal Justice

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.

Marquis Michael Watkins, 25, on Thursday was convicted of second-degree murder and related offenses after a four-day Northampton County Court jury trial, county District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta said.

The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and ArtsQuest will work together to bring a DUI Awareness Campaign to this year’s Oktoberfest at SteelStacks.

Leroy Mendez, 37, was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI and accidents involving death or personal injury, all felonies, police said.

The shooting occurred in September 2024 near North Law and Liberty streets. Police said they arrested the 26-year-old suspect after spotting him Monday night walking with a woman in the 1300 block of West Walnut Street.

Brenda Rodriguez entered the plea before Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg. She is scheduled to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 5 and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Matthew Torres pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while DUI and other charges in the Aug. 4, 2024, death of Leanna Ferraj, 24, of Brooklyn, New York, who was a front-seat passenger in his car.

Two unnamed male students were arrested after previous hoax reports this month. No one was immediately arrested in connection with Wednesday's bomb threat at Allen High School.

The shooting occurred in the area of North Codorus Township in York County — about 115 miles west of Philadelphia, not far from the Maryland line. The shooter was killed by police, authorities said.

Emil Giordano served as a presiding judge on Northampton County Court, Third Judicial District, from 204 through 2018. He joins Tom Shortell on the latest episode of Lehigh Valley Political Pulse to shed some insight on the role and his time on the bench.

Christopher Fitzgerald also served as a correctional officer at Lehigh County Jail at the start of his law enforcement career.

Monday’s bomb threat came less than a week after another hoax, according to Allentown police.

The driver — only identified Friday as a 51-year-old man from Bethlehem — was taken to a local hospital after the crash, authorities said.

Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi is the only defendant in an alleged interstate marijuana ring whom authorities have publicly identified. He made his first public comments since being arrested Aug. 28 at his job at Bethlehem City Hall.

The controller's report — published in mid-July — says the Guardian ad Litem program in Lehigh County lacks centralization, oversight and consistency in billing and compensation. That undermines "public trust in child welfare proceedings," he said.