"No release, no alternative" Judge issues ruling on suspected drug dealer who previously skipped court date

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - No release, no alternative.

That's the order from an Allegheny County judge when it comes to a suspected drug trafficker who had previously missed a court date.

Yan Cepeda is accused of having more than a million dollars worth of cocaine and suspected fentanyl with him when he was arrested in Downtown Pittsburgh last fall.

He was arrested on Aug. 31 in Pittsburgh following a trip from New York. A search of his bags turned up 9 kilograms of fentanyl, the attorney general's office said.

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However, in a controversial ruling, District Judge Xander Orenstein released Cepeda without cash bail.

After hearing the complaints of law enforcement, the Allegheny County president judge has sanctioned District Judge Xander Orenstein.

The courts will not comment on whether she has referred her complaints to the Judicial Inquiry Review Board, which can impose harsher sanctions up to and including removal from the bench.

Cepeda then fled to New York City where he was arrested once again.

Now, back in custody, a different judge ruled that he was to be held without bail.