This outlet covers crime across the Poconos and northeastern Pennsylvania: arrests, court proceedings, and the cases that don’t get resolved quietly. Coverage ranges from local police-blotter items like thefts and DUIs to major cases: homicides, sex trafficking rings, drug trafficking operations, and prison violence. A recurring focus is accountability inside the system itself — prosecutorial conduct, plea deals that don’t match the charges, and law enforcement officers or agencies facing scrutiny of their own. This outlet also tracks cases regional outlets skip, following them through arraignment, trial, and sentencing when no other press is watching. If it happens in the Poconos courts and jails and it’s of public interest, we’ll cover it — check back here to stay current.
CP-64-CR-0000272-2024 — Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County, 22nd Judicial District This document is a procedural audit. It identifies departures from standard criminal procedure, judicial conduct rules, and rules of professional responsibility as reflected in the case record. All findings are sourced to specific documents. Source materials: Criminal docket sheet, all 16 pages, printed...
This page contains the source documents referenced in the procedural audit of Commonwealth v. Joseph Cordaro. Documents are organized by audit finding number. Each image can be viewed full-size by clicking or opening in a new tab. Source materials include the complete 16-page criminal docket (printed June 12, 2026), exhibits from the federal civil rights...
Tara Glan raped children at a church in Taylor, Pennsylvania for five years. He also raped a woman with a documented intellectual disability. He was a van driver and youth group leader at Ray of Hope Church, and investigators say he used that access to reach every victim. He pleaded guilty on February 2 before...
Declassified FBI teletypes prove the Southern Poverty Law Center had a paid informant at Elohim City two days before the Oklahoma City bombing. The same informant program just drew an 11-count federal indictment. Morris Dees joked he'd have to kill the reporter who asked about it. The SPLC has never explained what its operative was doing there.
Miriam Mendez, 48, arrested by NYPD in Queens on Monroe County bench warrant after failing to appear for 2023 Walmart shoplifting case. Stroud Area Regional Police say she stole $157 from East Stroudsburg store; now faces felony theft charge.
Piotr Lapinski, 56, of Henryville held at Monroe County Prison on $20,000 bail after allegedly pushing woman to ground and choking her at Pocono Township residence. Preliminary hearing set for December 31.
Monroe County resident Eli Calero, 43, of East Stroudsburg faces criminal homicide charges in Scranton for the September 2025 killing of fellow inmate Michael Jones Jr. at Lackawanna County Prison. Trial date set for September 8, 2026.
All eight defendants in Carbon County fentanyl trafficking case now out on bail. Alleged ringleader Cruz Rodriguez released December 3; fugitive Robert Ahn captured after 33 days. Court dates set through March 2026.
Rebecca Racz, 36, of Effort was charged with DUI after Pocono Township Police say she swerved into oncoming traffic on Route 611 in Bartonsville. Court records show a prior Carbon County DUI, outstanding fines in both counties, and a Monroe County eviction judgment entered five days before her arrest.
Police responded to a Scranton Sheetz on Christmas Eve after a caller reported a man in an ICE shirt with a holstered weapon asking customers for identification. Officers determined the man was a security guard on break.