The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and admitted to attempting to smuggle a pound of heroin into a prison facility in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Michael Miser, 40, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one owner with intent to distribute heroin. The claim comes from an April 2024 incident in which Miser worked as an agent at Castatic North County Correctional Facility, coordinated with prisoners to bring drugs into prison in exchange for cash payments via the cast app’s digital wallet.
Federal prosecutors say Miser accepted $1,500 sent to a relative on April 24 by someone connected to an inmate. Inside the bag were two Pringle cans packed with around 511 grams (1.1 pounds) of heroin and $15,000 in cash. This filed for payment for drug delivery.
According to court documents, Miser put the item in a green backpack. This also included a loaded handgun and drove into a colleague’s apartment at LASD. He then entered a colleague’s truck and traveled to Castatic prison. After passing the security checkpoint, Meiser placed the Pringles can in the trunk of his LASD radio car and stashed it under the computer tower. He removed the cash, put it in his backpack, then headed to the prison gym with other deputies.
Later that day, Meiser met with inmates involved in the smuggling operation and spoke with him for a few minutes. When Miser left prison in the passenger seat of the same truck, LASD investigators stopped the vehicle. A search for the truck showed me a backpack that contained $15,000, a handgun, badge and department ID. Investigators also searched radio cars and found a Pringle canister containing two heroin.
Entrance to Pitges Detention Center, a Los Angeles County Jail complex in Castatic, including North County Correctional Facility. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
According to a report by the LA Times, Meiser is among 18 people charged with a larger smuggling scheme related to the Mexican mafia. Half of the people charged were already incarcerated, while others, including Meiser, were civilians at the time. Officials say he worked with Shotcarers in major prisons and used coded languages and apps like Cash App to coordinate drug dealings. In surveillance footage before his arrest, Miser handed the bag and bedroll to Jackie Triplet, one of the inmates charged.
US District Judge Fernando M. Holgin is scheduled for Meiser’s ruling on December 11th. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five to 40 years in federal prison.
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