PITTSBURGH — An accused drug trafficker was busted in Pittsburgh and immediately released from jail.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Man allegedly caught with enough fentanyl to kill 35% of Pennsylvanians released from jail
Now, Yan Carlos Pichardo Cepeda is wanted from coast to coast for failing to show up for a court hearing.
District Attorney Steve Zappala said it never should have come to this point.
The DA has had enough of Xander Orenstein’s policies when it comes to letting accused criminals out on bond.
“This is not what we signed up for. This is not a judicial officer, or not what a judicial officer should do,” he said.
Most recently, Judge Orenstein, who is located in Lawrenceville, let Yan Calos Pichardo Cepeda out on bond, after the AG’s office arrested him with nearly $2 million worth of fentanyl.
The suspect never paid bond, and now didn’t show up for a hearing Monday, prompting another judge to issue an arrest warrant.
“That should have been a no-brainer, just on that basis. This is not a political process. That is easy to do. That much fentanyl and how many people whose lives are adversely affected. That’s a no-brainer,” the DA added.
Plus, pre-trial services suggested that Cepeda not be released.
We’ve also learned that Cepeda has previous charges out of New York for sexual assault and grand larceny.
Yet, Orenstein decided it was appropriate to let him back out on the streets.
“There’s a handful of judges [who] ran as activist judges, and their agenda is not following the law, their agenda is something else,” DA Zappala said.
When we asked District Judge Orenstein about the decision, we were told it’s against policy to comment on ongoing cases.
It’s not the first time we’ve covered a case where Judge Orenstein’s custody decision was questioned.
In May, we reported the district judge let a man out of custody after he was accused of claiming to have a bomb in his luggage. His claims forced an American Airlines flight to be grounded at Pittsburgh International Airport.
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