LA Sheriff’s Deputies Used Badges to Assist Crypto ‘Godfather’ Extort Victims

Two Los Angeles (LA) County Sheriff’s Division deputies have admitted to utilizing their legislation enforcement powers to assist a crypto entrepreneur dubbed “The Godfather” extort victims by way of armed confrontations and fraudulent search warrants.

In line with the report from the DOJ, David Anthony Rodriguez, 43, pleaded responsible to conspiracy towards rights, whereas Christopher Michael Cadman, 33, agreed to plead responsible to conspiracy costs and submitting false tax returns.

Each deputies labored as non-public safety for Adam Iza, a 24-year-old crypto businessman who has been in federal custody since September 2024.

One Amongst Many Legal Extortion Operations

Cadman and an unidentified deputy held a sufferer at gunpoint inside Iza’s Bel Air mansion in August 2021, forcing him to switch $25,000 to Iza’s checking account instantly afterward.

The identical sufferer was later arrested in a staged visitors cease orchestrated by Cadman and different officers in September 2021.

Rodriguez obtained a fraudulent search warrant in July 2022 by mendacity to a choose about investigating a theft, when he truly sought GPS monitoring knowledge to find a sufferer for a personal safety consumer.

He shared the placement coordinates with co-conspirators who used the knowledge to harass and intimidate the goal.

The corruption case facilities on Iza’s cryptocurrency buying and selling platform Zort, which prosecutors say was used to funnel a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} in illicit funds to legislation enforcement officers.

Iza pleaded responsible in January to conspiracy towards rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion, dealing with as much as 35 years in jail at his December 15 sentencing.

Armed Extortion and Staged Arrests

Iza’s felony enterprise operated by way of a community of corrupt deputies who obtained substantial money funds for his or her providers.

Cadman admitted to receiving a minimum of $40,500 in unreported earnings from Iza, owing roughly $11,000 in federal taxes for 2021.

Eric Chase Saavedra, an LASD deputy and former federal job pressure officer who operated a personal safety firm, pleaded responsible in February to conspiracy towards rights and submitting false tax returns.

Saavedra collaborated with Rodriguez to harass victims utilizing info obtained by way of the fraudulent search warrant.

Court docket filings revealed Iza paid as a lot as $280,000 month-to-month to deputies he referred to as his “pawns.”

In a single incident, Iza used police database info to coerce a sufferer into surrendering a laptop computer containing cryptocurrency, sending intimidating messages with the sufferer’s private info alongside images of his household and automotive.

Prior court docket paperwork confirmed a single cost of $154,933 from Zort’s enterprise account to an LAPD officer.

Iza’s ex-girlfriend, Iris Ramaya Au, pleaded responsible in March to failing to report $2.6 million in proceeds from his felony operations.

Au created shell firms and opened financial institution accounts at Iza’s route, utilizing illicit funds to pay roughly $1 million to LASD deputies.

The couple spent round $10 million on luxurious objects, whereas Iza acquired $16 million in crypto by way of fraudulent means.

Federal Crackdown Targets Rising Crypto Crime Networks

The LASD corruption case is simply part of a broader federal crackdown on crypto-related crimes which have netted a whole lot of tens of millions in illicit proceeds.

In Might 2025, prosecutors charged 12 people, largely aged 18 to 21, for a racketeering conspiracy that netted $263 million in stolen cryptocurrency.

The defendants in that case laundered stolen digital belongings by way of cryptocurrency mixers and used proceeds to buy nightclub providers costing as much as $500,000 per night, luxurious watches valued between $100,000 and $500,000, and a fleet of 28 unique vehicles price as much as $3.8 million every.

Extra lately, Dwayne Golden of Pennsylvania obtained over eight years in federal jail for his position in a $40 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme working fraudulent platforms together with EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin between April and August 2017.

For these newest arrests, Rodriguez faces as much as 10 years in federal jail at his November 10 sentencing listening to.

Cadman may obtain as much as 13 years when he seems in federal court docket within the coming days.

Saavedra, free on $50,000 bond, awaits sentencing within the coming months after pleading responsible to associated costs.

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