Ferman

  Their paths don't cross professionally. He's in the kitchen, she's in a courtroom. But on Thursday, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and her brother, the acclaimed chef Marc Vetri, shared a stage for the first time. Their topic was neither cuisine nor crime, or sibling rivalry - but charity. Vetri, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind Vetri, Osteria, Amis, and Alla Spina, cofounded the Vetri Foundation in 2008 to promote healthy foods and active lifestyles.

The body of a missing 10-month-old child has been found at the King of Prussia apartment complex where she was snatched as her grandmother tried to save her life, authorities said today. The body of Saanvi Venna was discovered at 4:30 a.m. in a basement area of the apartment building, said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman. Police arrested Raghunanean Yandamuri, a family friend, who they said had sought a $50,000 ransom. Yandamuri, who lives in the same Marquis apartments complex, left a chilling ransom note.

Montgomery County officials say a new state wiretapping law helped them take down a "notorious drug dealer" who sold large quantities of marijuana in Norristown and elsewhere. At a news conference Monday, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman displayed about 50 pounds of marijuana, stacks of cash, two semiautomatic handguns, and numerous cellphones seized last month from Ryan Gavlick and his alleged associates. Gavlick, 26, of Pottstown, and alleged supplier Jason Bishop, 38, of Philadelphia, were arrested March 8 in Upper Merion, after weeks of wiretaps and surveillance by county narcotics detectives.

FOR THREE DAYS, Raghunandan "Ragu" Yandamuri seemed the most caring of friends. After someone killed Satyavathi Venna and kidnapped her 10-month-old granddaughter, Saanvi, from the family's King of Prussia apartment Monday, Yandamuri attended a candlelight vigil and helped create and distribute fliers offering a reward for the baby's safe return. To show support for the family, he even visited the Upper Merion Police Department, where Saanvi's parents, Venkata Venna and Chenchu Latha Punuru, camped out with investigators, desperately waiting for any word of their missing infant.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman on Tuesday identified the jogger fatally injured in Limerick Township on Monday afternoon as Merinda Thompson, 40, of Royersford. Thompson was jogging north on the southbound shoulder of North Lewis Rd. near Royersford, when a northbound car "crossed over into the southbound lane and then partially off the road striking Ms. Thompson," Ferman said in a press release. "The car then struck a utility pole before coming to rest," the press release stated.

Police found the body of a young Montgomery County woman blindfolded and stabbed to death in a King of Prussia motel yesterday, prosecutors said. Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa V. Ferman said that the woman had been identified but that her name was being withheld until relatives were notified. The killing wasn't random, Ferman said. "We believe she was targeted based upon who she was and who she was with," she said. Ferman called the woman "a hotel guest" at the Motel 6 on Route 202 near an exit for the Schuylkill Expressway.

Authorities in Montgomery County have arrested a former Florida man in connection with the strangling death of a 40-year-old woman in her Wyndmoor, Springfield Township, home. This morning District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Springfield Township Police Chief Randall D. Hummel announced the arrest of Johnny Fossett, 31, for the murder of Lori Jefferson. Fossett is charged with first- and second-degree murder and related offenses. Fossett strangled Jefferson, gagged her and then bound her hands and feet together behind her back, Ferman said.

A Montgomery County assistant district attorney has been fired after "serious discrepancies" were discovered in the unit she oversaw, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Karen Grace Ricca, who oversaw the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition unit (ARD), was terminated Thursday during a regularly scheduled meeting of the county's salary board. No official reason was given and efforts to reach Ricca were unsuccessful. ARD is a pretrial program for first-time nonviolent offenders who agree to certain conditions and are closely supervised by the courts.

Investigators in Montgomery County are looking into the deaths of two people found on Sunday afternoon in Norristown. A man and woman were found laying on their backs in a rented bedroom on the second floor of a home in the 1200 block of Arch Street, said District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. She described the couple as "a tenant and his girlfriend. " The call came into authorities about 4:22 p.m.; the victims were found by another resident in the house. The two had multiple wounds to their head and torso area.

WHEN FORMER University of Pennsylvania economics professor Rafael Robb pleaded guilty in 2007 to killing his wife, he told a judge: "I just lost it. " On Wednesday, Robb lost it again, but this time "it" was his chance at freedom: The state Board of Probation and Parole changed its mind and revoked Robb's scheduled parole after a tough fight by his victim's family, along with Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Montco state Rep....

  Their paths don't cross professionally. He's in the kitchen, she's in a courtroom. But on Thursday, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and her brother, the acclaimed chef Marc Vetri, shared a stage for the first time. Their topic was neither cuisine nor crime, or sibling rivalry - but charity. Vetri, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind Vetri, Osteria, Amis, and Alla Spina, cofounded the Vetri Foundation in 2008 to promote healthy foods and active lifestyles.

  Two men have been charged with murder in a March 22 slaying outside Brian's Cafe in Pottstown, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday. The suspects were identified as Michael Hinton, 26, of Philadelphia, in custody since the day of the incident, and his cousin, Maurice Andrews Jr., 19, of Pottstown, who remains at large. They have been charged with first-, second-, and third-degree murder and related offenses in the shooting death of Victor E.B. Baez, 28. District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said both men had gone to the cafe with weapons.

Montgomery County officials say a new state wiretapping law helped them take down a "notorious drug dealer" who sold large quantities of marijuana in Norristown and elsewhere. At a news conference Monday, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman displayed about 50 pounds of marijuana, stacks of cash, two semiautomatic handguns, and numerous cellphones seized last month from Ryan Gavlick and his alleged associates. Gavlick, 26, of Pottstown, and alleged supplier Jason Bishop, 38, of Philadelphia, were arrested March 8 in Upper Merion, after weeks of wiretaps and surveillance by county narcotics detectives.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman on Tuesday identified the jogger fatally injured in Limerick Township on Monday afternoon as Merinda Thompson, 40, of Royersford. Thompson was jogging north on the southbound shoulder of North Lewis Rd. near Royersford, when a northbound car "crossed over into the southbound lane and then partially off the road striking Ms. Thompson," Ferman said in a press release. "The car then struck a utility pole before coming to rest," the press release stated.

A special operation to curb violence in Norristown helped authorities arrest a second suspect in a recent slaying and could lead to other homicide cases being solved. Andrew Tomlinson, 18, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, robbery, and other offenses in the Feb. 11 killing of Andrew Polen, 25, of West Norriton, Norristown Police Chief Russell Bono and Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. Polen was one of two passengers in a car of a friend when they were targeted for robbery in Norristown, authorities said.

WHEN FORMER University of Pennsylvania economics professor Rafael Robb pleaded guilty in 2007 to killing his wife, he told a judge: "I just lost it. " On Wednesday, Robb lost it again, but this time "it" was his chance at freedom: The state Board of Probation and Parole changed its mind and revoked Robb's scheduled parole after a tough fight by his victim's family, along with Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Montco state Rep....

The revival of a working relationship with a Philadelphia law firm is giving the Montgomery County district attorney's staff a boost. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, which has an international practice, is lending free legal support to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman's office. Eleven lawyers from the firm's litigation division were sworn in recently as special assistant district attorneys. Eventually, 20 of the firm's newer lawyers will be involved with criminal proceedings that include assisting at preliminary hearings, violation of probation and parole hearings, and, possibly, trials.

THEY ALLEGEDLY yanked teeth, did root canals, put braces on crooked teeth and administered drugs. But the two women who ran an underground dental business in Bryn Mawr, luring patients by offering deals to the uninsured, were not licensed dentists, authorities say. In fact, one had no medical training whatsoever. Lower Merion police arrested the pair Monday and issued a public plea to help identify potentially dozens of people whom they allegedly illegally treated. Cheryl Laing, 45, and Jessica Gullickson, 24, both of Broomall, were charged with corrupt organizations, criminal conspiracy, reckless endangerment, theft by deception and unauthorized practice of dentistry after a grand-jury investigation found that they had treated patients at Smilz 4 Life on Old Lancaster Avenue near Elliott Avenue, said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.