Former Santa Clara County Jail Worker Pleads No Contest to Bringing Meth, Having Sex with Inmates

A former food service worker at the Santa Clara County jail system pleaded no contest Monday to charges of smuggling methamphetamine into the Elmwood women's jail and engaging in sexual acts with detained women. Marcos Mejia, 56, entered the plea on the morning of his scheduled preliminary hearing, resolving two felony counts of bringing meth into the Elmwood facility in Milpitas and two misdemeanor counts of sexual contact with a detained person.

The alleged crimes occurred between July and November 2024, and Mejia was criminally charged in January 2025, according to court records. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Mejia will serve 364 days in county jail.

Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky stated after the plea, "District Attorney Jeff Rosen will not tolerate corruption in our jails." Mejia's attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Authorities say Mejia was employed by the sheriff's office as a food service worker responsible for transporting food carts into and between the primary jail facilities, Elmwood and the Main Jail in San Jose.

The criminal allegations specify that the misconduct occurred at Elmwood, which houses most of the county's female jail population. Mejia was fired by the sheriff's office after being charged, but neither action was publicized at the time.

The case gained widespread public attention only after the release in May of an annual audit by the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring, the civilian oversight body for the sheriff's patrol and jail operations. After the drug and sex allegations were reported, Mejia was placed on leave.

The audit report stated that a subsequent search of his work locker "revealed that this conduct was part of a prolonged pattern." The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. However, in a previous statement after Mejia's crimes were detailed in the audit report, the agency said, "We take allegations of this nature seriously" and "This type of conduct is not tolerated." Sometime after the misconduct was reported, an anonymous complaint was submitted to the oversight office claiming that the sheriff's office was aware of Mejia's conduct for more than a year but failed to take action.

The sheriff's office said, also in its previous statement, that an investigation into the claim determined it was unfounded. This is a developing story.