A Luzerne County man who was convicted by a jury for his part in a controlled drug buy in Weatherly was placed on probation Tuesday afternoon in Carbon County court.

Judge Joseph J. Matika placed Randy Cepedes Ortega, 24, of Hazleton on probation for three years on a count of criminal use of a communication facility and one year probation on counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The last two counts run concurrent with the felony charge.A county jury returned a split verdict against Ortega, who had been charged with several drug counts by Weatherly police following an arranged drug sale.Following a two-day trial, the jury of eight men and four women found Ortega guilty of the three counts but not guilty of two felony counts of criminal conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.Ortega was arrested by Weatherly police Sgt. Michael C. Bogart following a controlled buy along East Main Street on Nov. 22, 2013. Police used a confidential informant to arrange the buy. He called another defendant in the case to arrange for the purchase of heroin. The CI then met with Ortega for the buy.The other defendant in the case was Megan Rhoades, 20, of Hazleton. She was charged with the same offenses. On May 21, 2015, she was placed in the county's Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition probation program for two years on the charges.Ortega does not speak or understand English, and two interpreters were required at the trial for translation of English to Spanish and Spanish to English.Defense Attorney Thomas P. Sundmaker argued that the incident was Ortega's first adult criminal offense, and since his arrest he has been drug-free and has no other contacts with law enforcement. Sundmaker said the incident was a "wake-up call" for Ortega, who he described as a family man.Through an interpreter Ortega told Matika, "I just wish you'd give me an opportunity to be with my daughters and my family."Matika, referring to the presentence investigation report prepared by the adult probation office, said, "You don't appear to be that bad of a person." He said, "You let your drug addiction take over."He added, "You were not a drug dealer, but you knew what you were there for."Matika also ordered Ortega to get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, zero tolerance imposed for drug or alcohol use, supply a DNA sample, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation and render 50 hours of community service.