tl;dr
Federal prosecutors in California charged two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies, David Anthony Rodriguez and Christopher Michael Cadman, in a civil rights conspiracy linked to Adam Iza, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who used his firm Zort to funnel illicit payments to law enforcement. Iza pleaded guilt...
Federal prosecutors in California have charged one Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy and secured a guilty plea from another in connection with a civil rights conspiracy tied to Adam Iza, a 24-year-old cryptocurrency entrepreneur known as “The Godfather.” Iza founded Zort, a crypto trading firm prosecutors claim was used to funnel illicit payments to law enforcement officers. He pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion and has been held in federal custody since September 2024.
David Anthony Rodriguez, a deputy from La Verne, pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights for abusing his police powers while working for a private security client unrelated to Iza. Christopher Michael Cadman, another law enforcement officer, agreed to plead guilty to separate charges after admitting he worked directly for Iza, assisting in intimidating a victim through an armed confrontation and a staged traffic stop. Both officers exploited their official positions while acting as private security for off-duty clients, prosecutors said.
Eric Chase Saavedra, an LASD deputy and former federal task force officer, also pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy against rights and filing a false tax return. Saavedra operated a private security firm and was implicated alongside Rodriguez, though he was not named in the more recent federal filings. His sentencing is scheduled for the coming months.
The schemes involved staged armed confrontations designed to extort money from Iza’s rivals. Notably, in August 2021, Cadman and an unidentified deputy held a victim at gunpoint inside Iza’s Bel Air mansion, forcing a $25,000 transfer to Iza’s account. A month later, Cadman helped conduct a fabricated traffic stop to arrest the same victim with no legitimate law enforcement basis. Rodriguez also admitted to obtaining a fraudulent search warrant in July 2022 by misleading a judge, aiming to acquire GPS tracking data to locate a victim for a private client. He then shared this data with co-conspirators, including Saavedra, who used it to harass and intimidate the victim.
Cadman received at least $40,500 in cash payments from Iza, failing to report it on his 2021 tax return and owing about $11,000 in federal taxes. These payments were part of a broader network of corruption where Iza distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to law enforcement personnel, even impersonating FBI agents in some instances. Prior court documents revealed a $154,933 payment from Zort’s business account to an LAPD officer, highlighting the vast reach of Iza’s criminal operations.
The magnitude of the scheme deepened when Iza’s ex-girlfriend, Iris Ramaya Au, pled guilty to failing to report $2.6 million in proceeds related to his illicit activities. Prosecutors detailed that Iza and Au spent roughly $10 million on luxury goods while Iza amassed $16 million worth of cryptocurrency through fraudulent means.
Rodriguez faces up to 10 years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for November 10. Saavedra, currently free on $50,000 bond, awaits his sentencing in the near future. This case casts a harsh spotlight on criminal corruption intertwined with emerging cryptocurrency enterprises and law enforcement misconduct.