30-year-old La. man arrested for 25th time after taking drugs to jail

WASHINGTON PARISH, La. (BRPROUD) - A Louisiana man is behind bars, facing 16 charges, after bringing drugs and other contraband items into a jail when he turned himself in for a different sentence, according to the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office (WPSO).

Steven Elmer Seals, 30, had been ordered by the court to turn himself in at 9 a.m. to begin serving a seven-year sentence with the Louisiana Department of Corrections, according to WPSO.

Seals walked through the doors of the jail at 5:20 p.m. and was arrested for the 25th time.

According to the WPSO, "when Seals entered the lobby of the jail, a corrections deputy observed him on a recorded video surveillance camera concealing contraband inside items he was bringing with him."

A search was done of Seals and the area he was housed in after entering the prison.

During the search these items were seized by corrections deputies:

• Metal letter opener
• Metal nail file
• Methamphetamine
• Marijuana
• Hypodermic needle
• Sewing needles
• Matches
• Heroin wrapped in latex and concealed inside a body cavity

WPSO said that the package of heroin was seen "partially protruding" from the body cavity during the unclothed search.

Seals removed the heroin package from his body.

He is now facing sixteen new felony counts including the following:

• Possession of heroin
• Possession of methamphetamine
• Possession of marijuana
• Destruction of jail property
• Multiple counts of introduction of contraband
• Multiple counts of possession of contraband

According to the WPSO, Seals had been previously arrested 24 times, the first arrest being in 2009. He was arrested four times in 2010, five times in 2011, once in 2012, twice in 2013, once in 2014, four times in 2016, thrice in 2017, once in 2019, once in 2020, and once in 2021.

WPSO said Seals' most recent arrest did not break his record for most charges at one time. That record was set when he was arrested in 2020 on 20 charges relating to drugs, theft, and contempt of court.

No bond has been set for Seals.