Former LA Sheriff’s Deputy employed by crypto 'godfather' sentenced to almost 2 years in jail

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who ran a private security firm for jailed crypto figure Adam Iza has been sentenced. 

The former sheriff’s deputy, who is the last of five ex-deputies to be sentenced, will spend 21 months in federal prison for abusing his badge to intimidate Iza’s enemies and hiding more than $373,000 from the IRS. 

How did a sheriff deputy get on a crypto criminal’s payroll?

Eric Chase Saavedra of Chino, aged 42, will serve out a 21-month sentence in federal prison. Saavedra once carried a detective’s shield in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s anti-gang unit and worked as a federal task-force officer with the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Alongside that job, he founded Saavedra & Associates LLC, a security outfit that staffed its shifts with active LASD deputies and other law enforcement officers.

Adam Iza became the firm’s marquee client. Court documents say the self-styled cryptocurrency businessman, who lived between Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, paid roughly $100,000 a month for round-the-clock guards, first from August 2021 through March 2022 and again from July 2024 until his arrest that September. 

Saavedra’s plea agreement reportedly revealed that he recruited 20 to 25 deputies for the detail, each paid about $750 a shift.

Prosecutors said Saavedra used his LASD credentials to pull personal data out of sensitive law enforcement databases, targeting people Iza had feuds with along with their relatives and associates.

In one episode, Iza believed a victim was holding a laptop loaded with more than $100 million in cryptocurrency. Saavedra applied for a search warrant in January 2022 and lied to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that the victim’s phone number was tied to a firearms suspect. 

Once the warrant produced a location, he passed the address to Iza. The following March, Iza sent three armed men to break into the home and take the laptop. 

Saavedra pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights. He also admitted to pocketing about $373,146 from Iza that was never reported. 

As part of the deal, he forfeited 32 Louis Vuitton bags, 27 pairs of Gucci shoes, five Louis Vuitton wallets and a money-counting machine. 

The judge also ordered him to pay $90,984 in restitution to the IRS and stated that his “prompt and extensive cooperation” is the reason he got a lighter term. 

How were the other sheriff deputies punished? 

Saavedra is the last of five deputies to be sentenced in connection with the scheme. The others drew terms ranging from a year to more than five. 

Michael David Coberg is serving 63 months, Scott Allen Simpkins got 18 months, Christopher Michael Cadman and David Anthony Rodriguez received 21 and 12 months, respectively. 

Iza himself, 26, has been in federal custody since September 2024 and pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion. 

He is already serving a 15-year sentence over an attempted Bitcoin robbery and a kidnapping near Danbury, Connecticut, in August 2024. His California sentencing before Judge Anderson is set for October 5.

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