PENN TWP — A convicted heroin dealer was arraigned Wednesday on new felony drug charges following his arrest in May for suspected drugged driving.

Middlesex Township police stopped the suspect, Nicholas J. Rodgers, 25, of Butler, just before midnight May 9 after he sped past an officer on Route 8 at Thorncrest Road in Penn Township.

Police noticed drug contraband in the center console. They also suspected Rodgers was impaired, according to court documents.

A search of his sport utility vehicle turned up a money bag which contained 48 bags of suspected heroin, two empty stamp bags and a syringe.

Rodgers allegedly admitted that he had used a bag of heroin an hour before driving.

He was taken to UPMC Passavant Cranberry for a blood test after failing several field sobriety tests, police said. A toxicology report subsequently confirmed the presence of heroin in his system.

District Judge Sue Haggerty arraigned Rodgers on charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, driving under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Rodgers, who is unemployed, was placed in the Butler County Prison on $10,000 bail, following arraignment.

It’s not the first time he’s been in jail on felony drug charges, county court records showed.

The county Drug Task Force in 2008 arrested Rodgers in Butler after authorities found him with more than $2,000 in currency and 75 bags of heroin.

Only two months earlier, Butler police had arrested him after finding 27 bags of heroin at his Mitchell Avenue house.

He later pleaded guilty to felony drug possession in both those 2008 cases and was sentenced to 9 to 18 months in the county prison. He was placed on four years’ probation following his release.