Austin Malone

ZELIENOPLE — A three-time drug felon is behind bars on charges of selling heroin in southern Butler County.

Austin Malone, 27, of Zelienople was arrested this week in connection with three separate drug deals last year.

The Butler County Drug Task Force said he sold 10 stamp bags of heroin to a police informant on all three occasions — May 10 and June 5 at different stores in Zelienople and May 17 at a store in Cranberry Township.

During the two deals in May, investigators said, Malone's suspected accomplice, Morgan R. Moretti, 20, of Zelienople, acted as a “lookout.” The task force last month obtained an arrest warrant for Moretti.

Officers took Malone into custody shortly after the alleged June 5 deal. They recovered the official funds in his wallet that the informant used to buy the heroin.

Also in his vehicle, according to court documents, officers seized 50 additional stamp bags that were full, partially full or empty, as well as other drug contraband.

For more information about this story, read Sunday's Butler Eagle.