Feds charge L.A. County sheriff’s deputy accused of smuggling heroin into jail
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Federal prosecutors have charged a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy with smuggling heroin into a jail where he was assigned to investigate gang crimes.
Michael Meiser, 39, has pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges he trafficked drugs while armed with his Smith & Wesson service weapon. An attorney representing the deputy, who was released on bail, didn’t return a request for comment.
Michael Lerma, 68, was convicted of racketeering and murder in a trial that showed how he called the shots for gangs in his hometown of Pomona and took over his wing of a federal jail in downtown Los Angeles, overseeing drug sales, stabbings, and at least one killing.
Meiser was already facing charges in Los Angeles County Superior Court that he conspired with gang members to distribute heroin within the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic.
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Department’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau arrested Meiser as he and his partner left the jail’s parking lot on April 30, 2024.
Earlier that day, the detectives searched a bag that Meiser allegedly left inside a police cruiser and found more than a pound of heroin hidden inside two tubes of Pringles chips, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Times.
Deputy Michael Meiser, assigned to a specialized sheriff’s department unit that monitored gang activity inside the jail system, has pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to smuggle more than a pound of heroin on behalf of “shot-callers” for the Mexican Mafia.
Meiser was accused of trying to smuggle the drugs to inmate “shot-callers” whom the Mexican Mafia appointed to control Latino inmates in the county lockups.
Jose Rodriguez, a reputed member of the Pacoima Project Boys gang called “Benji,” and Jackie “Boy” Triplett from the Victoria Park gang have pleaded not guilty to conspiring with Meiser to bring the drugs into North County Correctional Facility.
Meiser’s partner told internal affairs detectives that Rodriguez and Triplett oversaw drug sales, collected extortionate “fines” from inmates who broke the Mexican Mafia’s rules and meted out discipline through beatings.
Meiser was detailed to Operations Safe Jails, a unit dedicated to investigating suspected gang leaders.
A gang member was caught smuggling drugs into Los Angeles County’s main jail. He was, authorities say, just one cog in the Mexican Mafia’s lucrative operation in the county jails.
Meiser was found carrying a bag containing $15,000, according to an internal affairs report. At his Lancaster home, they found another $10,500 in his sock drawer, the report says.
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