The attorney for a former Pitchess Detention Center deputy who pleaded guilty to a drug smuggling charge asked for more time ahead of his client’s sentencing, which had been scheduled for Thursday.
Attorneys Daniel Perlman, Robert Sheahen and Ryan Kerns asked Judge Fernando M. Olguin to continue sentencing in a Nov. 26 filing, seeking a date in March, which was approved.
Meiser pleaded guilty July 10 to one felony count for his role in a heroin and methamphetamine smuggling ring in support of the Mexican Mafia, according to federal documents.
Meiser’s plea agreement detailed how he smuggled in the drugs that he had picked up from a Valencia gas station on his way to the jail in April 2024.
Less than a week after a relative of Meiser got $1,500 through a payment app, “Meiser drove his BMW to a Chevron gasoline station in Valencia, parked it next to a Chevrolet SUV, exited his car and opened its trunk,” according to the DOJ statement. “Inside the Chevrolet were two women, one of whom was associated with a jail inmate. Meiser walked to the Chevrolet’s driver side where one of the two women handed him a plastic grocery bag containing two Pringles cans loaded with approximately 511 grams (1.1 pounds) of heroin. The bag also contained two white envelopes that contained a total of $15,000 in cash, which represented Meiser’s payment from the inmates for smuggling heroin into the jail.”
The latest motion, signed by Kerns, states counsel for Meiser is engaging in “discussions relevant to any proposed sentencing recommendations,” according to the request, which Olguin allowed.
Meiser remains free on bail while he awaits sentencing.
“Defense counsel represents that failure to grant the continuance would deny them the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence, and represent that due to the serious nature of the allegations and the plea in this matter the additional time is essential for this sentencing,” he wrote.
Meiser is facing a minimum sentence of five years in prison based on the federal guidelines for his conviction.
