Criminal Justice

Police Chief Charles Roca said he will welcome Sgt. Evan Weaver back to full duty on the city's police force.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman said the volume of errors makes him uncomfortable with BusPatrol cameras on school buses without changes to how the system operates.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced the decision Wednesday after an investigation by Allentown Police Department and Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.

Xiaomin Fei, 34, on Thursday entered the plea in the June 3 shooting deaths of Robert and Gretchen Ackerman, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta announced.

Santos Mota-Ramirez, 61, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of attempted homicide, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple assault, arson and causing a catastrophe, District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said.

Yunior Peralta-Quintana, 23, of Allentown, was convicted Friday by a Lehigh County Court jury after a four-day trial before Judge Anna-Kristie M. Marks.

Amazon driver Troy Johnson, 30, of Philadelphia, also was ordered to face court on a felony count of accidents involving death and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person.

The Lehigh County Coroner's Office said the 27-year-old died Saturday night at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest — hours after being shot during a standoff with Pennsylvania State Police in a North Whitehall Township driveway.

Yaniel Fermin, 17, is charged with homicide, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances and possession of a firearm by a minor in the death of Jeomy Miguel Soto, 19. Soto was shot Thursday in Allentown.

Three unidentified juveniles were charged with criminal mischief in connection with the damages, which cost the city about $47,000.

Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi, who faces more than 100 drug-related charges, was in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.

Marty Nothstein, a former Lehigh County commissioner, had been accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend but admitted to lesser charges Monday. The plea deal came three years after he pleaded guilty to illegally entering the home of a different ex-girlfriend.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced more than 100 additional criminal charges Wednesday against County Commissioner Zachary Cole-Borghi.

Lengthy criminal complaints contained more than 150 pages of transcripts of messages allegedly sent between Cole-Borghi and cooperating sources for the prosecution. Those messages show negotiations on the price of drugs, including marijuana/THC products and cocaine, as well as arranging for delivery and purchase.

A school district email said that at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, "during an administrative search of a student's belongings, school officials discovered a loaded firearm inside a student's school bag."

Commissioner Zachary Cole-Borghi, 35, is among roughly 40 people charged in a multistate drug network. On Tuesday, his defense attorney argued in Lehigh County Court that his case should have a preliminary hearing separate from the others.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has used county office space but hasn't paid rent in three years despite a 2022 memorandum of understanding, county officials said. Said Controller Mark Pinsley: "We're going to deport ICE."

A county judge heard arguments Friday for and against releasing the two pages from a sealed grand jury presentment that deals with the drug-charge allegations against Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi, of Bethlehem.

Lehigh County prosecutors tried to avoid the standard procedures for criminal court by bypassing defendants' preliminary hearings. Instead, Lehigh County Judge Thomas Caffrey ruled the cases should proceed Friday morning as scheduled.

Former Forks Township Police Chief Michael Friel announced his retirement in December. Township supervisors approved a separation agreement but refused to disclose it until a Right-to-Know request was filed.

Grelvis Estevez Cabrera, 29, received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder in the killing of 25-year-old Angel Martinez-Velez in June 2024 in Allentown.

Catasauqua Borough Police are leading the investigation, with assistance from the State Police Forensics Services Unit and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.