Crime & Safety

LASD Deputies Served As Personal Enforcers For 24-Year-Old Crypto 'Godfather:' DOJ

Armed with guns and illegally obtained search warrants, deputies worked round-the-clock for a man known as "The Godfather," the DOJ said.

LOS ANGELES, CA — A cryptocurrency businessman and a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy have admitted to their involvement in a conspiracy that used intimidation, extortion and illegal search warrants against people involved in disputes with the businessman, who referred to himself as "The Godfather," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The crypto player, Adam Iza, 24, who has homes in Beverly Hills and Newport Coast, agreed to plead guilty in federal court last month to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion.

The LASD deputy and former federal task force member, Eric Chase Saavedra, 41, of Chino, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy against rights and subscribing to a false tax return, prosecutors said.

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Iza hired off-duty deputies, including Saavedra, to act as his personal enforcers against those he perceived as enemies.

Saavedra founded a private security company, Saavedra & Associates, that employed active LASD deputies and other law enforcement officers. Iza hired the company to provide round-the-clock security that cost about $100,000 monthly, prosecutors said.

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Beginning in 2021, Saavedra used his LASD credentials illegally to access databases to obtain information on people with whom Iza had personal or business disputes, as well as those people's associates and their family members, prosecutors said.

Saavedra admitted in his plea agreement that he used his law-enforcement powers to improperly obtain court-authorized search warrants related to people with whom Iza had disputes. The warrants included one to search a person's home, prosecutors said

Iza, Saavedra and others used the information obtained by deputies to track down Iza's enemies and intimidate, harass, threaten and extort them and their associates. They used Telegram and other encrypted messaging apps to avoid law enforcement detection, prosecutors said.

In one instance, a search warrant helped Iza obtain a person's address; he then had three armed people break into the victim's home. The trio fled after the victim fired a gun at them. Iza sent the victim a video of the attempted home invasion robbery, prosecutors said.

In another instance, two deputies held a victim at gunpoint inside Iza's residence before Iza had $25,000 transferred from the victim's bank account to his own. Another time, Iza held a victim at gunpoint as part of a successful effort to force the victim to transfer $127,000 to Iza's account, prosecutors said.

Iza also admitted in his plea agreement to stealing more than $37 million by fraudulently gaining access to business manager accounts and associated lines of credit of Meta Platforms Inc., which owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.

Both Iza and Saavedra admitted to federal tax crimes. Iza allegedly avoided paying about $6.7 million in federal income tax due for the year 2021, while Saavedra received around $373,150 in unreported income and subscribed to a false tax return for 2021, according to the DOJ.

"Mr. Iza's and Mr. Saavedra's relationship was little more than a thuggish partnership between a thief and a crooked cop," Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement.

"The public should be able to trust members of law enforcement, but Mr. Saavedra violated his oath for a payday. Mr. Iza stole from anyone he could and found a big payday by ripping off Meta so that he could afford to pay for Mr. Saavedra's corrupt protection and assistance."

After pleading guilty, Iza will face up to 35 years in federal prison. Saavedra will face up to 13 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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