Bethlehem police and the Northampton County district attorney’s office are investigating whether Lehigh County commissioner and former city employee Zach Cole-Borghi improperly accessed city police records while under investigation for drug-related crimes.
Bethlehem police Chief Michelle Kott, answering questions Tuesday from City Council member Bryan Callahan about Cole-Borghi’s former employment as the city’s Right to Know officer, said the city and DA’s office began investigating his access to police records, including possible unauthorized access, “within the last month.”
“We have been working very, very closely with the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office, and there is a lot of information that has to be sifted through and gone through,” Kott said. “They have a scope for their investigation that they were focused on. And at the point where they felt comfortable with that scope of their investigation, they let us know that this information is ours to deal with and to look at, um, that they’re continuing their investigation, but not into the the accessing of the report management system, at which point we sat down and had a conversation with the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office.”
Kott said she could not give any more specific information because the investigation is ongoing and has not yet resulted in any charges against Cole-Borghi.
In August, Cole-Borghi was among 22 people arrested and charged as part of a three-year, four-state grand jury investigation into drug trafficking.
Cole-Borghi was fired by the city of Bethlehem shortly after his August arrest, according to human resources director Michelle Cichoki.
Cole-Borghi was arrested again in March and faces over 100 new charges, including 89 counts of criminal use of a communications facility, 14 counts of delivery of a controlled substance (cocaine) and one count of delivery of a controlled substance (psilocybin mushrooms), Holihan said.
According to the criminal complaint, Cole Borghi conducted several drug transactions over a period of several years, including one during a Lehigh County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Gary Asteak, Cole-Borghi’s lawyer, said Wednesday morning that he is not aware of the investigation into Cole-Borghi’s public records access.
“It just seems to me as though they are fishing around, there has been a target placed on Borghi’s back by someone, and maybe they are just fishing around looking for trouble,” Asteak said. “Other than that, I have no idea what you are talking about.”
The Morning Call has reached out to the Northampton County District Attorney’s office for comment on this story.
Callahan, a Bethlehem City Council member, said during a council meeting Tuesday that he remains concerned about Cole-Borghi’s access to police records while he was employed as the city’s Right-to-Know officer. In that position, Cole-Borghi had the ability to access police records in connection with a public records request, but did not have the right to access police department records independently, without fulfilling a request for information.
Callahan told Council on Tuesday that he had reached out to District Attorney Stephen Baratta with his concerns in a letter, and he said Baratta confirmed his office is looking into the matter.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com