A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who ran a private security company for a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman was sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison, capping a case that swept up more than 20 current and former deputies who moonlighted as bodyguards for a man now serving 15 years for an attempted bitcoin robbery and kidnapping. Eric Saavedra, 42, admitted to violating the civil rights of multiple victims through intimidation, illegal search warrants and abuses of power tied to his work protecting Adam Iza.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Saavedra founded Saavedra & Associates LLC and used it to hire Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to provide security for Iza, whom the paper describes as a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman turned criminal defendant. Iza paid Saavedra or his company around $100,000 a month for round-the-clock bodyguards, according to the plea agreement cited by the Times, and the hired security both protected Iza and, per that same agreement, committed crimes on his behalf.
A Security Operation Built on Deputies’ Badges
Saavedra & Associates began providing security to Iza around August 2021 and staffed at least two guards with him 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Times reports. Saavedra recruited around 20 to 25 Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies for the work, including at least one former deputy and a sibling of a sheriff’s deputy, and the security workers made around $750 for each shift, per the plea agreement. The firm’s work for Iza ran from August 2021 until around March 2022, when Iza left for Dubai, then resumed when he returned to Los Angeles in July 2024 before ending with his arrest that September.
The case exposed how far Saavedra allegedly went to protect his client and his own business. The Times reports he used his department credentials to access sensitive law enforcement databases and obtained personal identifying information about people involved in Iza’s disputes, along with their associates and family members. He also created a fake search warrant to intimidate someone into paying his company for security services, the paper reports, and lied to obtain a real warrant to track a man’s cellphone in a firearms investigation.
A Tip That Led to an Armed Break-In
In one of the case’s most alarming allegations, Saavedra gave a victim’s location to Iza, after which three armed people tried to break into the victim’s home, according to the Times. The paper also reports that Saavedra misled a narcotics detective, triggering a drug raid on the home of a man Iza had previously extorted. Saavedra pleaded guilty in February 2025 to conspiracy against rights and making and subscribing to a false tax return.
Judge Weighs Cooperation Against Betrayal
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson sentenced Saavedra to nearly two years in federal prison and ordered him to pay nearly $100,000 in restitution to the IRS, the Times reports. Anderson said Saavedra’s conduct compromised the integrity of the sheriff’s department and the judiciary, but cited his prompt and extensive cooperation as a mitigating factor in sentencing. Federal prosecutors had sought a prison term of at least 18 months, while Saavedra’s defense attorney had requested five years of probation, including 24 months of home detention with location monitoring.
Saavedra told the court he abused the trust of the badge and said he was sorry, according to the Times. As part of the sentence, he agreed to forfeit 32 Louis Vuitton bags, 27 pairs of Gucci shoes, five Louis Vuitton wallets and a money-counting machine — a haul that underscores just how lucrative the arrangement with Iza had become. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Saavedra separated from the department on March 13, 2025, and called his 2021 conduct a serious betrayal of the badge, oath and public trust.
Others in Iza’s Orbit Already Sentenced
Saavedra is described by the Times as the last former sheriff’s deputy involved with Iza to be sentenced. Michael Coberg — whose name is also rendered as Michael Koberg in some accounts — received more than five years in prison, while Scott Simpkins got a year and a half, David Rodriguez received a year, and Christopher Cadman was sentenced to nearly two years, according to the Times. Separately, Incrypted reports that Simpkins pleaded guilty in March 2026 to obstruction of justice and resigned from the LASD, admitting he falsely told FBI agents he had not seen ammunition or witnessed a forced transfer of funds during an incident in which prosecutors say Iza threatened a victim with 9 mm ammunition and forced him to transfer $25,000.
The outlet also notes that Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy to violate civil rights, fraud and tax evasion, then pleaded guilty again in June 2026 to a separate conspiracy involving robbery and kidnapping tied to an attempt to seize bitcoin in Connecticut. The Times reports Iza is awaiting sentencing in the Central District of California on charges of conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion, and is already serving a 15-year prison sentence for the Connecticut bitcoin robbery and kidnapping case.
Conflicting Details Among Other Defendants
Accounts of the wider case diverge on some names. Criminal Legal News reports that Saavedra hired former deputies Scott Allen Simpkins and Michael Cadman for an off-duty security detail at Iza’s mansion, and that both Saavedra and Cadman had pleaded guilty and were awaiting sentencing as of mid-July 2026. That same outlet identifies a former LASD employee serving a 63-month sentence as Michael David Coberg, while Incrypted refers to a defendant it calls Christopher Kedman and spells the 63-month sentence holder’s name as Michael Koberg — discrepancies the available reporting does not resolve. Criminal Legal News additionally reports that Simpkins was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and fined $10,000 for obstructing the federal extortion investigation into Iza.
The federal civil-rights charge at the center of Saavedra’s plea, conspiracy against rights, falls under 18 U.S.C. § 241, which the FBI says makes it unlawful for two or more people to agree to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate a person in connection with federally protected rights. The U.S. Department of Justice similarly describes the statute as prohibiting agreements between two or more persons to injure, threaten or intimidate someone in the exercise of a protected right. Saavedra provided security for Iza and fabricated a warrant.
