Lehigh County judge orders unsealing of criminal dockets tied to interstate drug ring prosecutions

A judge in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, has lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding the criminal cases of dozens of suspects charged in an interstate drug ring.

Last week, Judge Thomas Caffrey of the Lehigh Valley Court of Common Pleas ordered the unsealing of all criminal dockets connected to the local district attorney’s wide-ranging investigation, which included charges against a county commissioner. 

The judge’s order came more than a month after Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Local Legal Initiative Attorney Paula Knudsen Burke filed an emergency petition on behalf of three Pennsylvania news outlets — LehighValleyNews.com, The Morning Call, and lehighvalleylive.com — arguing that the public has a right to access the sealed court records under the First Amendment and the Pennsylvania Constitution.

“Today’s consent order marks significant progress in tipping the scales of justice back to the presumption of openness,” Burke told the news outlets after the judge issued his order. “After more than two months in the dark, the public now has access to the names, charges, and basic docket information for these arrests.”

The news outlets’ fight for transparency began in August, after the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release that 22 individuals had been arrested as part of an investigation into an interstate drug ring. The press release noted that some defendants were scheduled to appear at preliminary hearings, but didn’t include the names of the individuals who were arrested or the case docket numbers.

After Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi was arrested at a public building, the district attorney’s office confirmed that he was arrested in connection with the drug investigation and said a judge sealed court records related to the criminal charges. The sealing order was not been made available to the public, and the district attorney didn’t explain why the charges for the other 21 individuals remained secret.

On behalf of the three news outlets, Burke filed a petition in October seeking to intervene and unseal basic information about the suspects charged as part of the drug investigation. 

Before issuing his order, Judge Caffrey said that the dockets should have been unsealed weeks earlier. According to the news outlets, the judge said he would meet with other Lehigh County criminal court judges to review the court’s internal processes. 

After the dockets were made public, the news outlets reported that they were now aware of 32 defendants facing charges connected to the drug ring.

To learn more, check out reporting from LehighValleyNews.com, The Morning Call, and lehighvalleylive.com.