Complaining that his client’s case is being “tried in the media rather than the courtroom,” the attorney for Lehigh County Commissioner Zachary Cole-Borghi told a judge Wednesday that he may seek a change of venue.
At issue, attorney Gary Asteak said, is an in-depth article on confidential informants that ran in The Morning Call in May.
Asteak questioned whether prosecutors suggested the story to a reporter. Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Scheetz said that didn’t happen.
“He’s accusing us of some media blitz and that’s not the case,” Scheetz said.
The Morning Call reporter came up with the story idea without any input from the DA’s office, according to Editor in Chief John Misinco.
In the end, Monroe County Judge Arthur Zulick, who is overseeing the case because all Lehigh County judges recused themselves due to Cole-Borghi’s position as a commissioner, ruled that the Lehigh County district attorney’s office must hand over all news releases related to Cole-Borghi’s arrest.
Cole-Borghi, of Bethlehem, is among more than three dozen people charged last year following a grand jury investigation into an alleged multistate drug operation based in Allentown. Prosecutors allege he conducted drug deals from various locations, including a Board of Commissioners meeting and Bethlehem City Hall, where he was employed at the time.