An inmate facing trial in two felony cases now faces a third one on charges she smuggled several bags of heroin into the Butler County Prison this summer.

District Judge Pete Shaffer at a preliminary hearing Monday ordered Sara Jo Mentzer, 24, of Penn Township held for court in the latest case.

Mentzer admitted she brought into the prison three full bags of heroin and four empty bags of heroin, according to court documents.

She had hidden the drugs on herself when she was arrested as part of a Butler County Drug Task Force investigation on May 12 on a felony warrant for allegedly selling heroin, authorities said.

The next day Mentzer was taken from the prison to Shaffer's office in Butler for a brief hearing.

A correctional officer testified at Monday's preliminary hearing that she searched the defendant May 13 as she was returned to the prison. The search, the officer said, turned up the heroin in Mentzer's shirt pocket.

County Detective Pat Cannon later that day interviewed the suspect, who admitted to bringing the heroin into the prison.

Mentzer is charged with smuggling contraband into the prison and possession of contraband by an inmate, both second-degree felonies. Those charges carry a mandatory minimum two-year prison term, Cannon noted. Also, Mentzer is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mentzer has two other felony cases — for drug dealing and for spitting at a prison officer — pending in county court. She remains in prison on $19,100 bail.