HAZLETON \u2014 Prosecutors and police called for restoring sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder during a state legislative hearing Monday and warned of growing online risks from scams against seniors and grooming of children.<\/p>\n
The Senate Majority and House Republican policy committees invited panelists to talk about trends in crime and solutions at City Hall. They touched on topics that ranged from organized smash-and-grab retail thefts, to Medicaid fraud, human trafficking and drug policy while calling for more funding, technology and cooperation at various levels between law enforcers and social agencies.<\/p>\n
State Attorney General David Sunday Jr. said violent crime rates are dropping, but his agency seized enough fentanyl last year to kill everyone in Pennsylvania four times.<\/p>\n
Now that the state Supreme Court has invalidated mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder, Sunday said he favored a Senate bill that establishes a sentence range of 35 years to life. He explained that second-degree murder applies when a homicide happens during the commission of other felonies such as robbery, rape, kidnapping, buglary, assault or\u00a0 arson.<\/p>\n
When Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce thinks about the court decision he said he wakes up wondering \u201cWhat planet do I live on?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanguedolce spoke of addressing the suffering of victims, who relive the events throughout the years-long stages of a case from pre-trial hearings to motions for post-trial relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get calls every day from victims,\u201d said Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20, Lehman Twp., who co-sponsored a bill re-establishing sentence guidelines for second-degree murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s blowing my mind,\u201d state Rep. Dane Watro, R-116, Kline Twp. said, \u201cthat we\u2019re even discussing\u201d relaxed sentences for second-degree murder.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122, recounted a case in his district from Carbon County where a son held his mother while another man killed her and said it is appalling consider releasing that convict from prison.<\/p>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HZS-L-hearing-0811-08.jpg\")
Michael A. O\u2019Pake, district attorney, Schuylkill County and vice president, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association speaks before the Senate Majority Policy Committee and House Republican Policy Committee public hearing on crime trends and policies to make Pennsylvania communities safer on Monday Aug. 11 2026 at Hazleton City Hall.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Schuylkill County District Attorney Michael O\u2019Pake, vice president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, said prosecutors need more funding to recruit and retain attorneys. For some reason, young lawyers aren\u2019t gravitating to public service, he said.<\/p>\n
He also said district attorney\u2019s offices need funds to invest in technology to apprehend criminals and present evidence in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe solve a lot of crimes in our office,\u201d he said talking about assists from computers and surveillance cameras.<\/p>\n
But criminals also have warped technology to develop more convincing scams and recruitment pitches.<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence can create images of someone in sexual activity, fakes which often are used to harass classmates, O\u2019Pake said.<\/p>\n
Sunday has noticed the sophistication of scams aimed at his parents, who are in their 80s and like all older Pennsylvanians have to be on guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen unbelievable, tragic cases. People have no clue they\u2019re being scammed,\u201d he said, adding that their money is \u201crarely ever returned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday also said people online use games and other social media to groom children to exploit them or ensnare people in human trafficking, a growing crime that is hard to quantify because many victims don\u2019t file reports.<\/p>\n
![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HZS-L-hearing-0811-07.jpg\")
Sam Sanguedolce, district attorney of Luzerne County, speaks before the Senate Majority Policy Committee and House Republican Policy Committee public hearing on crime trends and policies to make Pennsylvania communities safer on Monday Aug. 11 2026 at Hazleton City Hall.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Sanguedolce said some victims won\u2019t cooperate because they\u2019re worried about immigration status after being forced to perform sexual acts in a country where they don\u2019t know the laws or the language.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you imagine a more terrifying situation than that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sanguedolce said he won\u2019t advocate for legalization of recreational marijuana, which heroin users tell him they started with. He is dubious that revenue from marijuana sales \u201cwould be the savior of Pennsylvania\u201d any more than gambling has been.<\/p>\n
He also called for table games to be taxed and regulated like casinos and pointed out that a murder in Hazleton involved table games. Ashokkumer Patel was shot to death on Dec. 12, 2020 at Craig\u2019s Market by a robber seeking to reclaim losses from table games.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Tim Twardzik. R-123, Shenandoah, said hemp has been doctored to magnify its tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in cannabis, and sold at gas stations along with other dangerous substances like kratom.<\/p>\n
Like Sunday, two police chiefs said violent crime rates are dropping in their jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HZS-L-hearing-0811-13.jpg\")
Brian Schoonmaker, police chief, Hazleton City Police Department talks about crime rates in the city during the the Senate Majority Policy Committee and House Republican Policy Committee public hearing on crime trends and policies to make Pennsylvania communities safer on Monday Aug. 11 2026 at Hazleton City Hall.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer9<\/p>\n
Hazleton Police Chief Brian Schoonmaker said the city is safer than it was a decade ago, according to statistics.<\/p>\n
Aggravated assaults are the most common violent crime in the city, he said, but instances of retail thefts and thefts from vehicles are numerous, as is crime among juveniles.<\/p>\n
There is \u201cgang or what they claim is gang-related\u201d crime as well as abuse of opioids and fentanyl. He called for a task force to track drugs moved along the corridors of Interstates 80 and 81 that intersect just north of the city.<\/p>\n
Police Chief Daniel Gentile of the Hazleton Area School District said a three-year trend shows a drop in violent crime.<\/p>\n
To reduce crime, school police coordinate with other police and train school employees to recognize online threats and mental health warning signs before they lead to offenses.<\/p>\n
A call for more counselors and school psychologists was among six recommendations Gentile made to the lawmakers.<\/p>\n
State Sen. David Argall, R-29, Rush Twp., said the lawmakers convened the hearing to confront problems and \u201cby working together we hope to\u201d strengthen law enforcement.<\/p>\n
![\"Romilda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HZS-L-hearing-0811-12.jpg\")
Romilda Crocamo, county manager, Luzerne County speaks about the homeless during the the Senate Majority Policy Committee and House Republican Policy Committee public hearing on crime trends and policies to make Pennsylvania communities safer on Monday Aug. 11 2026 at Hazleton City Hall.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer9<\/p>\n
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo said inmates are aging like the rest of Pennsylvania so correction officers need training in caring for people who need hospice care or have memory loss.<\/p>\n
Telling about one man with dementia who was incarcerated for leaving his home without clothes, Crocamo said he broke his leg but after being treated at the hospital was returned to the county\u2019s prison, which was built in 1887 \u201cand is not a safe place\u201d for him.<\/p>\n
While Luzerne needs a prison that has a better layout for people with mobility issues, Crocamo also asked the lawmakers to set modern guidelines for compassionate care of older inmates.<\/p>\n
Genesis Arias, the new Luzerne County sheriff, said duties of sheriffs deputies vary across the state. She called for lawmakers to clarify the inconsistencies.<\/p>\n
Rossanna Gabriel said providing children with role models reduces crime. The Hazleton Integration Project, which she directs, provides good examples to chidlren during after-school programs and summer camp. Gabriel also said Hazleton needs a shelter for women who have been victims of domestic violence or transportation to take women to shelters.<\/p>\n
Dr. Lisa Kugler, a vice president of Treatment Atlas, Shatterproof, was among the speakers who talked about the merits of courts that divert people from prison to treatment for problems stemming from drug misuse or mental health issues.<\/p>\n
About one in 65 Pennsylvanians, Kugler said, have a mental health or substance abuse disorder and an interaction with the criminal justice system. Her son is among them, yet he was denied a driver\u2019s license for a job with Door Dash after being in recovery for three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine being asked repeatedly to prove you are worthy of a second chance,\u201d Kugler said.<\/p>\n
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