Updated: Apr. 26, 2024, 1:42 p.m.A western Pa. district judge has been removed from handling arraignments after he gave no-cash bonds to defendants who then skipped town and disappeared. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comA district judge in western Pennsylvania has been banned from holding arraignments after two high-profile defendants the judge let go on no-cash bonds skipped hearings and disappeared.
After Orenstein’s ruling, an Allegheny County judge agreed with prosecutors that Craddock’s bond should be revoked, but Craddock missed the Monday hearing and vanished.Over the winter, WPXI reported that Orenstein released a man on non-monetary bond who police said launched an unprovoked attack on an elderly man in downtown Pittsburgh.
In a case last year, Orenstein released Yan Cepeda of New York City on a no-cash bond after Cepeda was and that it was actually a cutting agent, like baking soda, although it said lab tests confirmed that a kilo of cocaine was found in Cepeda’s backpack.