LOS ANGELES
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge after admitting he tried to smuggle over a pound of heroin into a county jail, federal officials announced Thursday.
Michael Meiser, 40, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. He faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years and up to 40 years in federal prison.
He will be sentenced on Dec. 11 by U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin.
According to court records, Meiser worked at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic and conspired with inmates to smuggle drugs in exchange for cash payments via Cash App.
On April 24, 2024, a relative of Meiser received $1,500 as part of the deal.
On April 30, Meiser met two women at a Valencia gas station and received a grocery bag containing two Pringles cans filled with 511 grams (1.1 pounds) of heroin and $15,000 in cash. He later stored the heroin in a sheriff’s radio car trunk at the jail and kept the cash in his backpack, along with his loaded handgun.
That evening, LASD investigators stopped Meiser and another deputy as they tried to leave the facility. They found the cash, gun, badge, and heroin stash hidden in the vehicles.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the LASD’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas F. Rybarczyk is prosecuting the case.