A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to over five years in federal prison Thursday after admitting to smuggling more than a pound of heroin into a jail facility inside sealed Pringles potato chip cans.
Michael Meiser, 40, was handed a 67-month sentence by U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin. The sentencing follows Meiser’s guilty plea last July to a federal charge of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, located northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
According to federal prosecutors, Meiser agreed to smuggle 1.1 pounds of heroin into the facility in exchange for cash payments and electronic transfers via Cash App.
Meiser drove his 2018 BMW 530i from his Lancaster home to a local gas station, where he met a woman tied to an inmate. During the exchange, Meiser retrieved a bag containing two Pringles cans stuffed with the illicit narcotics alongside two white envelopes holding the remaining cash balance for the job.
Law enforcement authorities estimated the street value of the contraband inside the prison’s black-market economy at approximately $226,600.
Investigators apprehended Meiser shortly after the transaction. A search of his vehicle yielded the backpack containing the cash, a loaded firearm, and his official LASD badge and law enforcement identification. The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the LASD’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau.
