Lower Burrell man, son of district judge, pleads guilty to marijuana distribution charges
The son of a local district judge and nephew of Westmoreland County’s district attorney pleaded guilty Thursday to drug distribution charges.
Stephen Yakopec III, 29, of Lower Burrell, could face up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in about three months.
In court on Thursday, Yakopec pleaded guilty to six counts in three separate criminal cases in which he was charged with possession and distribution of marijuana.
According to court records, police arrested Yakopec following a traffic stop Aug. 1 in Murrysville, when they found 14 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. A subsequent search of a home Yakopec shared with his girlfriend found additional drugs and empty boxes that he told police were sent to him from his drug supplier in Oregon.
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.
The arrests came during a six-month investigation by the state’s Attorney General’s Office.
Yakopec, the son of Allegheny Township-based District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec and nephew of District Attorney John Peck, will remain free on an unsecured bond pending a sentencing hearing conducted later this year by Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger.
Yakopec’s girlfriend, Kacy Anderson, 30, of Lower Burrell, is awaiting trial, scheduled for October, on six drug-related counts.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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