CHICORA — A two-time drug felon arrested in the case of an intercepted package of suspected marijuana in Butler County sent by mail is headed for court.

Brandon K. Fairtrace, 25, of New Castle waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday at the office of District Judge Lewis Stoughton in Chicora. Fairtrace is charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy, and criminal use of a communication facility, all felonies.

His co-defendant, Adrian Q. Nicelli, 19, of Butler, waived his own hearing last month on the same charges.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics investigated the case, which began February 2019 when a special agent with the U.S. Postal Service identified a suspicious package that was received in the mail.

Investigators subsequently got a search warrant to open the parcel — addressed to a home on Geibel Road in Summit Township — and found it contained 3.5 pounds of marijuana, authorities said.

The finding led to a sting, according to charging documents, during which a special agent for the postal service, posing as a postal employee, delivered the package to the address Feb. 25, 2019.

By then, authorities said, investigators apparently believed Fairtrace was the actual intended recipient.

Around 2:45 p.m., Fairtrace was allegedly seen driving slowly past the Geibel Road home on two occasions. An investigator said the defendant knew the woman who lived there. About an hour later, documents said, Nicelli drove to the home, alone in a car. He got out, ran to the front porch, allegedly grabbed the package and started running back to the car. But before he made it back, investigators took him into custody.

He later told investigators, authorities said, that Fairtrace had called by cell phone and asked him to retrieve the package from the porch and deliver it to Fairtrace.

“Nicelli knew the package to contain several pounds of marijuana,” documents said.

A forensic examination of Nicelli's cell phone corroborated his account, according to documents, and showed the defendants had “extensive discussion regarding the sale and distribution of controlled substances.”

Fairtrace's attorney, public defender Ryan Helsel, declined to comment after Tuesday's court proceedings. The defendant remains free on $30,000 bail. Court records showed Fairtrace has prior convictions for felony drug possession in 2013 and 2016.

Nicelli is free on $3,000 bail. His attorney, Leland Clark, declined to comment Wednesday.