Pennsylvania Dem county commissioner arrested, charged with drug possession and intent to distribute

The mantra for anti-Trump Democrats over the past few years has been that “Noone is above the law,” and now one elected Democrat has found out the hard way that the phrase aimed at the Republican president is also applicable to them.

Zachary Cole-Borghi, a Democratic Lehigh County Commissioner in Pennsylvania, was among nearly two dozen individuals arrested last week as part of a massive, multi-state drug investigation, according to Breitbart.

Cole-Borghi, who is running for re-election to another term in November, was released from jail after posting a bond, but appears to have lost his day job with the City of Bethlehem in the meantime as a result of the drug-related arrest.

Arrested and charged amid large-scale drug bust

Local ABC affiliate WPVI reported that a press conference was held on Friday by Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan to share with the public the results thus far of a large, multi-state drug investigation, which included 22 arrests and the seizure of “large quantities” of various illegal drugs.

Among those taken into custody was Lehigh County Commissioner Cole-Borghi, who was later released after $50,000 bail was posted.

“This is a wide-ranging, as I said, multi-jurisdictional investigation, which included people yesterday who were arrested in the City of Chicago and the State of Wisconsin,” Holihan said, according to lehighvalleylive. “And there are warrants for people in multiple counties in Pennsylvania, as well as the state of New York, I believe the state of New Jersey, Philadelphia — so a wide-ranging conspiracy.”

“To date, some of the items seized include well over $100,000 in cash, crypto accounts, more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana, large quantities of THC, liquid cocaine, and MDMA pills,” the DA said more broadly of the anti-drug operation, according to WFMZ. “Additionally, at least 25 firearms were seized yesterday, including semi-automatic rifles and ghost guns.”

“As part of the operation, two clandestine labs were discovered manufacturing illegal THC products. Those labs were discovered and dismantled by the PA State Police Clandestine Laboratory Team,” he added.

Fired from his job as a city employee

DA Holihan revealed that Cole-Borghi, who was arrested on Thursday at his job at Bethlehem City Hall, has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, among other lesser offenses, per lehighvalleylive.

He was first elected as a county commissioner in November 2021 and is seeking re-election to another four-year term in November as the Democratic nominee after running unopposed in that party’s primary earlier this year.

When not fulfilling his duties as a commissioner, Cole-Borghi worked for the City of Bethlehem’s solicitor’s office as a legal assistant and open-records officer, but according to the city’s human resources director, Michelle Cichocki, he was no longer employed in that position as of Thursday.

GOP opponent says people of the county deserve better

WMFZ reported that aside from the confirmation that Cole-Borghi was no longer employed, the City of Bethlehem declined to comment on the arrest, but that didn’t stop City Council member Bryan Callahan from confirming the “distressing news” about the arrest, or Council member Grace Crampsie Smith from describing it as “disheartening.”

All of the individuals arrested and charged as part of the massive drug bust, including Cole-Borghi and others who’d bailed out of jail, were scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

“As community leaders, we are entrusted with a responsibility to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and service,” the Democratic commissioner’s Republican opponent, Jacqueline Rivera, said of the arrest, according to TheBlaze. “The people of Lehigh County deserve representatives they can trust — leaders who will put families, neighborhoods, and the well-being of our community first.”

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