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On Wednesday, Steven Elmer Seals, 30, a resident of Louisiana Highway 21, was booked into the Washington Parish Jail for the 25th time, according to Chief Criminal Deputy Mike Haley of the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Haley said that Seals 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. Seals finally arrived at the jail at 5:20 p.m. and was arrested again on new charges, Haley said.

“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,” Haley said. “Once Seals entered the jail, corrections deputies conducted a search of the property he brought with him as well as an unclothed body search and a search of the temporary housing unit in which he was placed.

“The searches revealed numerous items that Seals was attempting to smuggle into the jail. Items recovered from Seals included a metal letter opener, a metal nail file, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, a hypodermic needle, sewing needles and matches.

“The heroin was wrapped in latex and concealed inside a body cavity. The package of heroin was observed partially protruding from the body cavity during the unclothed search. When informed that he would be transported to Riverside Medical Center to have the package medically removed, Seals then voluntarily removed the package of heroin himself.”

Seals was booked into the jail on new charges of possession of heroin, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, destruction of jail property, multiple counts of introduction of contraband and multiple counts of possession of contraband. In total, Seals is charged with 16 new felony counts.

Haley said that his arrest record of 24 previous arrests began with one arrest in 2009 and continued with four arrests in 2010, five arrests in 2011, one arrest in 2012, two arrests in 2013, one arrest in 2014, four arrests in 2016, three arrests in 2017, one arrest in 2019, one arrest in 2020 and one arrest in 2021. He faced various charges over the years including multiple counts of burglary, theft and failure to appear in court as well as multiple charges involving illegal drugs.

Haley said that Seals’ Sept. 5, 2020, arrest included the most charges Seals faced from one arrest. On that date, he was booked into the jail charged with ten counts of sale of illegal drugs, four counts of possession of contraband in a correctional facility, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, four counts of theft and contempt of court.

“How sad that a 30-year-old man has already achieved the status of career criminal,” Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Seal said. “I suspect he intentionally delayed his court-ordered time to report to jail, because he knew the warden and other staff members likely would not be present. He grossly underestimated the professionalism of our corrections deputies working the night shift. They quickly caught on to his shenanigans, searched him and arrested him on the new charges. As I’ve said many times in the past, our corrections deputies are outstanding professionals who do a stellar job managing the most dysfunctional persons in our parish.”