Jail sentence of Lower Burrell judge's son to be delayed by a month

A Westmoreland County judge on Monday deferred the start of a jail sentence to be served by the son of a local district judge.

Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger ruled that Stephen Yakopec III, 29, of Lower Burrell will have an additional month before he is required to report to Westmoreland County Prison to begin serving what remains of a 6- to 23-month sentence imposed in September for drug offenses.

Yakopec pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges in connection to what prosecutors said was his role in a million dollar marijuana distribution ring that operated in Westmoreland County for about two years before his arrest following a six-month investigation by the state’s Attorney General’s Office.

Yakopec was to report to the jail Monday, but his defense lawyers asked the judge to approve an extension of his inpatient treatment, where he has resided since his sentencing hearing last month. The defense said Yakopec’s counselors recommended additional time in the treatment program.

Krieger has yet to rule on a defense request to extend Yakopec’s time in the treatment program but on Monday signed a court order that delayed the start of Yakopec’s jail sentence to Nov. 25.

Yakopec in May pleaded guilty to six counts in three separate criminal cases in which he was charged with possession and distribution of marijuana.

Yakopec is the son of Lower Burrell District Judge Cheryl Peck-Yakopec and the nephew of Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck.

According to court records, police arrested Yakopec following a traffic stop in Murrysville on Aug. 1, 2018, when they found 14 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. A subsequent search of a home Yakopec shared with his girlfriend found additional illicit drugs and empty boxes that he told police were sent to him from his drug supplier in Oregon, the records said.

He also pleaded guilty to one drug-related count in connection with a search of a Lower Burrell home in March 2018. Police said Yakopec was in the residence where 13 bags of marijuana were discovered.