Drug Manufacturing Charge Against Nazareth Woman Dropped

The case against a former Nazareth woman accused of cooking methamphetamine in her home is headed to Northampton County Court. Jaclyn Ditaranto, 21, waived her right to a preliminary hearing Monday afternoon in front of .

Not all was bad news for Ditaranto, however. Prosecutors agreed to drop the drug manufacturing charge -- the only felony charge against Ditaranto -- in exchange for Ditaranto's guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to Mark Louis Minotti, Ditaranto's attorney.

Ditaranto's formal arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. June 7 at the Northampton County Courthouse.

Ditaranto on the 100 block of W. North Street after police found 40 packets of Sudafed, a cooking device, a plastic bladder and clear plastic bags -- items commonly used to make methamphetamine -- in an upstairs bedroom.

Multiple needles and a spoon coated with a white residue were also found in the bedroom, court documents said.

Under the conditions of her bail, which was lowered from $25,000 to $10,000 with the option to post 10 percent, Ditaranto must submit to random drug and alcohol testing.

Assistant District Attorney James Augustine also requested that Ditaranto be kept from entering the borough home where she was arrested.

Ditaranto became agitated.

"Don't you think I should be allowed one day to pick up my items?" she asked in a heated manner.

Capobianco said that someone other than Ditaranto was allowed to pick up the last remaining items.

on Feb. 28, Capobianco told Ditaranto that she looked "a lot better than the last time I saw you."

Ditaranto's bail was revoked after she allegedly failed a drug test and skipped other drug tests, according to a report in The Express-Times.

She was then returned to Northampton County Prison after failing to post 10 percent of $25,000 bail, according to court records.

Ditaranto tested positive for amphetamines for the one screening she attended, according to the Express-Times report. Defense attorney Dwight Danser said his client takes Adderall, an amphetamine-based medication that could explain the positive result.