Crypto ‘Godfather’ and LA deputy plead guilty to extortion, tax crimes

A crypto businessman known as “The Godfather” and a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges. 

The charges include conspiracy to violate civil rights, wire fraud, and tax crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

Adam Iza, 24, and LASD deputy Eric Chase Saavedra, 41, face prison terms for their roles in a scheme involving intimidation, extortion, and abuse of law enforcement powers to target victims.

Iza, who previously lived in affluent neighborhoods like Bel Air and Newport Coast, has been in custody since September 2024. Saavedra, who owned a private security company, leveraged his law enforcement credentials to assist Iza.

Extortion, robbery, and tax evasion

Court documents reveal that Iza hired off-duty deputies, paying up to $100,000 monthly, to act as enforcers against his business and personal rivals. 

Saavedra, working for Iza through his security company, frequently accessed confidential law enforcement databases to gather private information on Iza’s adversaries. He also obtained fraudulent search warrants to facilitate intimidation and theft.

One such warrant, falsely tied to a firearms investigation, enabled Saavedra to locate a victim believed to possess a laptop containing $100 million in cryptocurrency. In January 2022, Iza orchestrated a failed armed robbery to seize the laptop. When the victim resisted, Iza later sent him a video of the attempted robbery.

In another incident, Iza used armed deputies to force a victim to transfer $25,000 from his bank account and later had the victim arrested under false pretenses. The scheme also involved Iza stealing over $37 million by hacking Facebook advertising accounts to fund his operations.

Both Iza and Saavedra admitted to tax evasion. Iza evaded more than $6.7 million in federal income taxes in 2021, while Saavedra failed to report $373,146 in income that same year.

Iza faces up to 35 years in federal prison, while Saavedra could receive up to 13 years. Both are expected to make initial court appearances in the coming days.