Former L.A. County sheriff’s deputies admit roles in crypto ‘Godfather’ operation
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Federal prosecutors said two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies admitted Monday that they committed criminal acts while working side hustles as private security for a Southern California crypto mogul who referred to himself as “the Godfather.”
David Anthony Rodriguez pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights, according to a Monday statement by the office of the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. Christopher Michael Cadman agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy against rights and subscribing to a false tax return.
Rodriguez, 43, of La Verne, said in a plea agreement that in 2022 he lied to a judge to improperly obtain a search warrant for a victim’s GPS location for a client who hired him for private security, the U.S. attorney’s office statement said.
A longtime detective in the L.A. County sheriff’s anti-gang unit has admitted to extortion and other abuses of power while working for a crypto mogul, court filings show.
Rodriguez shared the victim’s location with Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino, another deputy who operated a private security business and pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy against rights and subscribing to a false tax return.
The federal prosecutor’s office in Los Angeles said deputies and others who were in on the scheme used that location information to “harass, threaten, and intimidate the victim.” Rodriguez will face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison at his Nov. 10 sentencing hearing.
Cadman and Rodriguez are former employees of Adam Iza, 24, a Beverly Hills and Newport Beach businessman who pleaded guilty in January to charges of conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion. Iza has been in federal prison since September, with a sentencing hearing slated for this year.
Cadman, 33, of Fullerton, and a deputy referred to as “LASD Deputy 6” in court filings “intimidated and threatened a victim who was one of Iza’s adversaries” in August 2021, according to the U.S. attorney’s statement.
During a meeting in Iza’s Bel-Air mansion, LASD Deputy 6 “held the victim at gunpoint,” the statement said, after which “the victim transferred approximately $25,000 from his bank account to Iza’s bank account in response to the threat and demand.”
The wealthy operator of a cryptocurrency trading platform allegedly paid a number of L.A. County sheriff’s deputies to perform unlawful searches and arrests, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.
The following month, Cadman and other officers “orchestrated a traffic stop in Paramount to arrest the same victim,” Cadman admitted in his plea agreement. He also admitted that he received payments in cash while he was employed by Iza.
Cadman also admitted to receiving at least $40,500 in income that he knowingly failed to report on his federal 2021 tax return, the U.S. attorney’s office wrote. He will face up to 13 years in federal prison after he pleads guilty.
The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that it has cooperated with the federal investigation and that Rodriguez and Cadman were “relieved of duty” in October 2023 and October 2024, respectively.
“These alleged actions, as detailed in federal court documents,” the statement said, “are deeply disturbing and do not reflect the values of our Department or the dedicated work of the vast majority of our deputies who serve with integrity.”
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