ANGOLA - Corrections officials said drug cartel hitman Miguel Velez, who was convicted of killing drug smuggler Barry Seal in 1986, has died while serving his sentence at Angola State Penitentiary.

Pam Laborde with the state corrections office said Velez had been in hospice for some time and passed away on Aug. 25.

Velez was convicted in 1987 of killing Seal along with Luis Carlos Quintero-Cruz, who was the actual shooter, and Bernardo Antonio Vasquez. Seal, who was from Baton Rouge and smuggled drugs as part of a DEA sting operation, was gunned down while working community service in the city.

Seal's story has been the focus of several documentaries and movies over the years. Tom Cruise is set to play him in an upcoming biopic title "Mena," after the Arkansas town where Seal flew in much of the drugs he smuggled into the U. S. A Netflix Original Series titled "Narcos" which features the Medellin cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar whom Seal informed on premiered this past Friday.