Derbe Arnold Eckhart, the former owner of Almost Heaven Kennel in Upper Milford Township, has been charged with intimidation of a witness.

According to an affidavit of probable cause:

State trooper David Tretter said Eckhart, 50, of 6587 Central Road, Heidelberg Township, told Heather Ann Ungood on Nov. 26, 2017, that she needed to do what she had to to get Anthony Christopher Yerger out of jail.

Tretter investigated an alleged assault between Yerger and Ungood on Aug. 22, 2017, in North Whitehall Township.

Yerger was charged with aggravated assault for repeatedly striking Ungood with a baseball bat, causing serious injuries.

He is currently awaiting trial for charges relating to the assault.

Both Yerger and Ungood lived and worked at Eckhart’s farm in Heidelberg Township.

On Dec. 18, 2017, Tretter interviewed Ungood at State Police Troop M Bethlehem barracks in reference to the alleged assault.

Ungood related that after Yerger was arrested and charged for her assault, Eckhart approached her multiple times indicating to her that she needed to recant her statement in order to get Yerger out of jail.

Ungood said Yerger and Eckhart were romantically involved, which was Eckhart’s motivation for wanting Yerger out of custody.

Eckhart told Ungood that it was too hard operating his farm without Yerger and he told her to lie to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s office and tell them she was high the night of the assault and didn’t remember what happened.

Ungood told Tretter that Eckhart was withholding her personal belongings until she pressured law enforcement to drop the charges against Yerger.

According to the affidavit, on Dec. 6, 2017, Eckhart contacted Ungood in reference to returning her personal belongings at his farm. He provided her with a cellphone and dialed the phone number for the Lehigh County District Attorney’s office.

Eckhart instructed Ungood to request to speak with Attorney Robert Schopf, the prosecutor on Yerger’s case and tell him that she wanted to retract her statement about the assault.

After calling Schopf, Eckhart dialed the phone number for Yerger’s defense attorney Gavin Holihan with the Lehigh County Public Defender’s office, according to the affidavit.

Eckhart instructed Ungood to give the same statement to Holihan.

Tretter said Ungood told him that she had no intentions of recanting her statements and that she was making the request because Eckhart was withholding her personal belongings and would release them only if she requested that the charges against Yerger were withdrawn.

She said every time she spoke to Eckhart after Dec. 8, 2017, he mentioned dropping the charges against Yerger.

Ungood said she was afraid of what might happen if she did not follow Eckhart’s instructions to withhold or change her testimony regarding the assault committed by Yerger.

According to Lehigh County criminal court records, Eckhart was arraigned before District Judge Michael D’Amore, Allentown.

His bail was set at $25,000.

He was able to post bail and was released from Lehigh County Prison on Feb. 6.

His next court hearing is scheduled for March 7 Before District Judge Tom Creighton in Slatington.

Eckhart has more than five convictions on animal cruelty charges dating back to 1988 in Carbon and Lehigh counties. In 1988, he served jail time for neglecting 45 dogs at a kennel in Mahoning Township. He was slapped with a 30-year ban by the American Kennel Club for his violations.

More recently, he was found guilty in connection with neglect of animals ranging from birds to capuchin monkeys to Clydesdale horses at his former kennel, Almost Heaven Farm, in Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County.