‘King Scum’, one of Ireland’s most notorious drug dealers, will be re-housed by the Irish State after having spent 14 years in prison.

Tony Felloni, who got his own wife and children hooked on heroine, was released from Mountjoy Prison this weekend. Thanks to a successful court case brought by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) he was stripped of his assets last year.

The 68-year-old is now estranged from his wife and is homeless. He will be re-housed by the Health Service Executive. This is standard practice.

He will also be entitled to a $300 state pension, free travel and a medical card to pay for his HIV medication.

A number of his children also have HIV, due to taking drugs their father introduced them too. Five of his children have also spent time in prison. His eighth child died three days after its birth because his wife was addicted to heroine.

‘King Scum’ is blamed for the escalation of heroine use in Dublin in 1980. He was once considered a key dealer but is no long considered a threat in terms of organized crime. The police believe that he has become institutionalized having spent “too long” behind bars to be considered a threat.

He was one of the first major criminals targeted by CAB. Felloni fought a 14-year battle to stop them seizing his assets. However last year CAB seized $684,293 from the criminal.

His son Luigi and daughter Regina have hampered the CAB investigation and refused to co-operate. They had also hidden cash in the Republic, the North and England.

Felloni was sent to Mountjoy Prison before Christmas, from Portlaoise Prison. He was jailed in 1996 for 20 years. His case made legal history at the time due to the severity of the sentence.

He was released early due to good behaviour. He had 26 previous convictions dating from 1959 including a ten-year sentence in 1986 for drug trafficking.