Michael Meiser, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy, has pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle more than one pound of heroin into a Santa Clarita Valley jail. The 40-year-old Lancaster resident admitted to the crime as part of a plea agreement that could land him up to 40 years in federal prison.
Meiser’s scheme involved working with inmates at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, arranging for cash and digital wallet payments. He was caught after handing over $15,000 in cash and 511 grams of heroin to an accomplice outside a Chevron station. The drugs were eventually found hidden in an LASD radio car’s trunk.
Meiser used his position as a deputy to bypass security checkpoints and drove the contraband into the jail with another officer. Both were arrested when they attempted to leave the jail compound. Meiser, who faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for possession with intent to distribute heroin, is scheduled for sentencing on December 11.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the LASD’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, led by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas F. Rybarczyk of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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