SAN ANTONIO – A Texas inmate already serving a 20-year sentence for armed robbery has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after prosecutors said he helped run a fentanyl trafficking operation from inside state prison.
Verndale Ray Seals, 36, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 360 months in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl while incarcerated, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced the sentence.
Court documents say Seals was convicted in 2016 for armed robbery and sentenced to 20 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison. While imprisoned, prosecutors said Seals helped organize an extensive conspiracy to smuggle fentanyl and other narcotics into TDCJ prisons.
Authorities said Seals operated a network that sourced fentanyl and other drugs to produce drug-soaked sheets of paper that were distributed inside prisons.
Seals was indicted on Nov. 1, 2023, along with several co-conspirators. He pleaded guilty on April 24, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam ordered Seals to serve a 30-year federal prison sentence that will begin after he completes his state sentence.