Former Deputy Gets 67 Months for Heroin Smuggling Attempt

Meiser, 40, pleaded guilty to trying to traffic heroin inside the North County Correctional Facility. Prosecutors said he agreed to bring inmates about 1.1 pounds of heroin, packed in two Pringles cans, in exchange for $15,000 in cash and a $1,500 payment sent through Cash App to a relative of his.

In 2024, while assigned to a unit monitoring gang activity, Meiser met a woman at a Valencia gas station and collected a bag containing the cans and cash. He put the items in a backpack and rode with another deputy to the jail complex. Investigators later found the backpack, his loaded handgun, badge and department identification in the vehicle. They also recovered the cans, which had been hidden in the trunk of a sheriff’s vehicle, prosecutors said.

Meiser spoke with an inmate involved in the scheme during the day. Investigators stopped him and the other deputy as they were leaving the jail grounds. The FBI investigated with assistance from the Sheriff’s Department’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau.

The case also drew scrutiny to Meiser’s unit and its relationships with inmates. An internal review described deputies’ dealings with gang leaders who held influence inside the facility. His partner explained that their method aimed to limit disorder, and that Meiser had built rapport with inmates. No other deputies were implicated in the smuggling scheme.