{"id":1204,"date":"2025-10-15T08:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/1204\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T08:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:43:13","slug":"bethlehem-solicitor-no-other-city-officials-targeted-as-part-of-alleged-interstate-drug-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/1204\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem solicitor: No other city officials targeted as part of alleged interstate drug ring"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 After Bethlehem Right-to-Know Officer Zach Cole-Borghi was arrested last week on drug charges<\/a>, city solicitor John Spirk Jr. said Tuesday that was the extent of city employees being investigated on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that I have been authorized by the prosecutor to state, and that is that there is no ongoing investigation of the city of Bethlehem or its officers, officials, employees, city council members,” Spirk told City Council.<\/p>\n

Court records in the case remain under seal, according to Spirk.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that I have been authorized by the prosecutor to state, and that is that there is no ongoing investigation of the city of Bethlehem or its officers, officials, employees, city council members.”<\/p>\n

Bethlehem City Solicitor John Spirk Jr.<\/p>\n

Cole-Borghi, a member of Spirk\u2019s office and also a Lehigh County commissioner, was arrested at City Hall on Thursday and charged with possession with the intent to deliver a pound of marijuana and possession of marijuana, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan.<\/p>\n

Cole-Borghi was among more than 20 people arrested as part of a three-year grand jury investigation into an alleged interstate drug ring in Lehigh County, Montgomery County, Northampton County, Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Authorities also seized $100,000 cash, at least 25 firearms, 2,000 pounds of marijuana, THC liquid, cocaine and MDMA pills, according to the DA.<\/p>\n

Cole-Borghi has been released from Lehigh County Jail after posting $50,000 bail.<\/p>\n

Officials said last week they were not able to comment at the time on whether other city employees were subjects of the investigation.<\/p>\n

‘Will continue’ cooperating with DA<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds said the administration and others in City Hall have just been working to get the facts straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the advice of our labor council for us specifically to not say anything other than the fact that this individual is no longer employed here.”<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the advice of our labor counsel for us specifically to not say anything other than the fact that this individual is no longer employed here,\u201d Mayor J. William Reynolds said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Police Chief Michelle Kott said BPD \u201cfully cooperated with the Lehigh County District Attorney\u2019s Office, and we will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Answering a question from Councilwoman Rachel Leon, Kott said she could not share when BPD became involved in the investigation.<\/p>\n

‘Delicate and concerning’<\/p>\n

A couple of council members said they should have been alerted of the arrest sooner to avoid confusion \u2014 even if details were slim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel strongly that as a branch of government, we should have been informed of this, and I shouldn\u2019t have to read it in the paper or hearsay from people,\u201d Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the people in the community look for the mayor or the leader to make a statement about something that is as delicate and concerning as this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think there\u2019s things that are being brought up that are raising a lot of red flags with me. … We have oversight responsibilities.”<\/p>\n

Councilman Bryan Callahan<\/p>\n

Councilman Bryan Callahan agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think there\u2019s things that are being brought up that are raising a lot of red flags with me,\u201d Callahan said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I just think at some point the rest of council has got to step up \u2014 I mean, it can\u2019t be me all the time and Ms. Crampsie Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have oversight responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callahan asked about Cole-Borghi\u2019s qualifications, job performance and ethics behind the scenes \u2014 to which Spirk would not speak.<\/p>\n

Callahan said he would work to request further information from the DA\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

‘Disappointed’<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek said releasing information too soon last week may have affected other warrants in the process of being served.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I’m just expressing my concern about the fact that this information may have been inappropriately shared,\u201d Kwiatek said.<\/p>\n

\u201cZach was always helpful to me in responding to right to know requests and unless he was using on the job, I don’t see how this has anything to do with his ability to assist the people of Bethlehem.”<\/p>\n

Bethlehem resident Valerie Noonan <\/p>\n

Bethlehem Human Resources Director Michelle Cichocki said it\u2019s typically a case-by-case basis on deciding what\u2019s next for an employee facing criminal charges.<\/p>\n

When a city employee inappropriately shares information, he or she could be subject to disciplinary measures under the city\u2019s Code of Ethics, she said.<\/p>\n

Resident Valerie Noonan said, \u201cZach was always helpful to me in responding to right to know requests and unless he was using on the job.<\/p>\n

“I don’t see how this has anything to do with his ability to assist the people of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m disappointed to hear that he’s been let go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 After Bethlehem Right-to-Know Officer Zach Cole-Borghi was arrested last week on drug charges, city solicitor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,164,155,154,1217,1218,1219,1220,1221,1222,1223],"class_list":["post-1204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-city-council","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-drug-task-force-lehigh-county","tag-gavin-holihan","tag-interstate-drug-ring-in-bethlehem","tag-john-spirk-jr","tag-lehigh-county-commissioner-arrested","tag-zach-cole-borghi","tag-zachary-cole-borghi-arrest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}