Police: Ford City area man charged with felony, accused of selling meth to undercover informant
State police have accused an Armstrong County man with an extensive criminal history of being a drug dealer more than two years after an informant bought methamphetamine from him during a sting operation.
Delton Michael Ion, 38, of Manor Township was charged Jan. 12 with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver along with counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Trooper Andrew Andryka wrote in a criminal complaint that the informant was given cash to buy drugs from Ion on Jan. 3, 2020, before being dropped off along Fifth Avenue in Ford City.
Troopers working undercover saw the informant being picked up in a gold Hyundai driven by Ion and followed the vehicle to the 200 block of Linde Road in North Buffalo Township, the complaint said.
The informant then got out of the car and waited while Ion drove to a nearby parking lot, police said.
A short time later, the informant was picked up by Ion, the complaint said, and driven to another location that was not identified in court papers and dropped off.
The informant met with investigators after the sting operation and turned over two baggies of suspected methamphetamine he bought from Ion, the complaint said.
The substance was sent to the state police crime lab in Greensburg for testing and came back positive for methamphetamine, according to investigators.
Ion faces a preliminary hearing on the charges before District Judge J. Gary DeComo on April 12, according to court officials.
Prior criminal history
Court records show that Ion was charged in 2007 with felony use of a communications facility and sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty.
He also pleaded guilty to a 2009 felony burglary charge and received one year in jail.
In February 2009, he was charged with felony drug possession and was sentenced to 10 months in jail after pleading guilty.
Ion also pleaded guilty to three felony charges filed in 2015 for burglary and criminal trespass. He was sentenced to two to five years in prison.
State prison records show Ion is being detained at SCI-Pine Grove in Indiana County.
Tony LaRussa is a TribLive reporter. A Pittsburgh native, he covers crime and courts in the Alle-Kiski Valley. He can be reached at tlarussa@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.