The feds say the Los Angeles deputy was a “crooked cop” on the cryptocurrency mogul’s payroll

A longtime detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s anti-gang unit admitted to violating the civil rights of several victims through intimidation, illegal search warrants and other abuses of power, according to plea agreements filed this week.

Eric Chase Saavedra, a Los Angeles County deputy and former federal task force officer, agreed this week to plead guilty to conspiracy and tax offenses related to his role in carrying out the criminal bidding of Adam Iza, the cryptocurrency mogul known as “The Godfather.” Officials said. Saavedra faces up to 13 years in prison.

Iza, 24, agreed to plead guilty to similar charges, as well as wire fraud. He faces up to 35 years in prison, although a plea deal would likely reduce his sentence. Eiza has been in custody since then September He was flown last month to Las Vegas for surgery to remove rods from a leg-lengthening surgery that prosecutors say he paid for with money hidden from tax collectors.

Since 2021, Eiza has paid Saavedra’s private security company — a company he ran alongside him in addition to working as a deputy — $100,000 a month for around-the-clock bodyguards, according to court filings. The hired muscle protected Eiza and sometimes committed crimes for him, according to Saavedra’s plea agreement. Saavedra admitted that for each 12-hour shift, he would select two from a list of 20 to 25 active deputies and pay them $750 in cash. Although this was not official department business, some deputies often carried firearms and displayed their LASD badges, according to the agreement.

Saavedra, 41, also admitted to illegally using his department’s credentials to access sensitive law enforcement databases and obtain personal information on people with whom Iza had personal or business disputes, as well as their associates and family members.

In one case, Saavedra created a fake search warrant that he used to intimidate someone, according to the agreement. In another case, the deputy admitted that he misled a narcotics investigator, leading to a raid on the home of a man whom Iza had previously blackmailed. In a third case, Saavedra said he lied to obtain a search warrant, falsely claiming he needed to track a man’s cellphone as part of a firearms investigation.

After he obtained the arrest warrant and discovered the victim’s location, he gave that information to Iza – after which three armed people tried to break into the man’s home.

“Mr. Iza and Mr. Saavedra’s relationship was nothing more than a thuggish partnership between a thief and a crooked cop,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Tyler Hatcher. “The public should be able to trust law enforcement personnel, but Mr. “He violated his oath to get the payday.”

The plea agreements for both Iza and Saavedra describe a host of criminal acts involving Saavedra and other unnamed sheriff’s deputies, who allegedly harassed and threatened people to further Iza’s criminal goals. So far, at least six deputies have been relieved of duty in connection with the case. As The Times reported last year. The Sheriff’s Department confirmed Friday afternoon that Saavedra was among them, saying he had been relieved of duty effective Sept. 23.

“This deplorable behavior is in direct violation of department standards, betrays the public’s trust, and tarnishes the reputation of all deputies and the entire department,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “Those who abuse their badge to abuse their power for personal gain through illegal activities have no place in law enforcement and must be held accountable. They have no place in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”

In a statement, Iza’s lawyer, Joseph Sadat, referred to his client as “one of the smartest individuals I have ever met.”

“We hope that the others involved, whose actions were more morally reprehensible than those of Mr. Iza given their comparative age and social standing, will follow suit sooner rather than later, because truth leads to redemption,” Sadat said.

Brian Gurowicz, the attorney representing Saavedra, provided a short response early Friday.

“Mr. Saavedra recognizes the breach of trust represented by his actions and deeply regrets the harm they have caused to the community he has dedicated decades to serving,” Gorowitz said. “Out of respect for the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation, he will not be making further public comments at this time.”

Beginning of payday

Saavedra said in his petition that he first learned of Iza around August 2021, through fellow lawmakers who had recently worked security for the cryptocurrency mogul at his Bel Air mansion. That same month, Eiza hired Saavedra to provide security services.

The deputy had a long history with the department, and in 2018 got a tattoo on his left ankle of the unofficial logo of the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station, which was a shovel with the number 13 inside it, according to his plea agreement.

Saavedra admitted to recruiting about 20 to 25 deputies and others to accompany Iza 24/7. Sometimes, Saavedra would work shifts himself.

According to the plea agreement, Saavedra regularly used his LASD credentials to access confidential databases to obtain information for Iza. Sometimes, he did the same thing with fellow representatives working for his company.

Saavedra said he and the other deputies provided the cryptocurrency mogul with personal information related to several people, including three victims — identified in the agreement as RC, EZ and DD — with whom Iza had had disagreements.

One of the first incidents described by prosecutors in court filings occurred last year during an August 2021 party at Iza’s mansion in Bel Air. Prosecutors said Iza was unhappy with the party and wanted the party planner – RC – to reimburse him for half the cost.

Last year, prosecutors alleged in the indictment that two of Iza’s bodyguards held RC at gunpoint and forced him to return the $25,000 he had paid for his services.

In a plea agreement reached this week, Saavedra admitted he knew the bodyguards — both deputies — held a person at gunpoint. One of Eiza’s associates claimed that RC was a major trafficker of fentanyl and cocaine, prompting Saavedra to pass information to narcotics investigators, according to court filings.

Shortly after, a narcotics investigator told Saavedra that they had obtained a search warrant but did not find any illegal drugs at RC’s home, according to Saavedra’s agreement.

Iza also admitted that in October 2022, sheriff’s deputies on his job illegally detained another victim — identified by his initials L.A. According to his confession, Iza held the victim at gunpoint and forced him to transfer $127,000 to a bank account he controlled.

A $100 million laptop

In late 2021, Saavedra said he learned of a dispute between Iza and Eiz over a laptop believed to contain more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies. Through court records and interviews, The Times was able to identify EZ as Enzo Zelucci, a self-described “actor, producer and innovator.”

Eiza told Saavedra that the laptop had been stolen and that he wanted it so he could access and transfer cryptocurrency, court files showed. In an earlier interview with The Times, Zelucci said the laptop belonged to him.

Eiza later told Saavedra that he thought Zelucci’s assistant, Dee Dee, might have the laptop. In December 2021, Saavedra, Iza and two others — including another deputy — went to DD’s home in Orange County to confront him, according to Saavedra’s agreement, but DD refused to open the door and spoke to them through a window.

Saavedra admitted in his plea agreement that he identified himself as law enforcement, showed his badge and told DD that a stolen laptop was beeping at his home. DD denied having a stolen laptop and after police arrived the group left.

Eiza later told Saavedra that he had hired a private investigator and was spending large sums of money to locate Zelucci and the laptop without success, according to Saavedra’s agreement. Iza said he was frustrated by the private investigator’s lack of progress, prompting Saavedra to offer a solution: a search warrant to obtain GPS location information linked to Zelocchi’s phone.

Saavedra admitted that in January 2022, he applied for and obtained a search warrant for several phone numbers, including Zelocchi’s. According to his plea agreement, Saavedra lied in an affidavit that Zelucci’s number was linked to a suspect in a firearms investigation.

After obtaining the illegally obtained arrest warrant, court records show Saavedra began receiving pings to Zelocchi’s phone, determining the approximate location. Shortly after, Saavedra admitted to traveling to a Los Angeles neighborhood where the phone was ringing and he spotted Zelucci outside a residence in an apartment complex.

According to court filings, Saavedra told Eiza he found Zelucci and the two staked out the apartment complex and residence.

Iza admitted that he issued orders that led to three people trying to force open the door of Zelucci’s house, but the attempt failed when Zelucci shot in their direction and they fled.

Fake search warrant

In 2022, Eiza told Saavedra that one of his business associates — identified in court records as Agent 1 — was involved in the theft of large amounts of cryptocurrency, and was interested in hiring private security. According to Saavedra’s plea agreement, Eiza told Saavedra that he could get Client 1’s business if Client 1 thought there was something to worry about.

To do this, Iza allegedly suggested intimidating Agent 1 by conducting a fabricated investigation. So Saavedra created a fake search warrant, using an official Sheriff’s Department form to make it look legitimate.

After writing the fake document, which mentioned cryptocurrencies and digital services, Saavedra arranged for another deputy to share it with Iza, who showed it to the potential client, court filings say.

Not long afterward, Agent 1 hired Saavedra for security.

Saavedra and his company provided services to Eiza from August 2021 until approximately March 2022, when Eiza left for Dubai, according to the plea agreement. When Iza returned to Los Angeles in July 2024, those services resumed until Iza’s arrest in September.

In his plea, Iza also admitted to fraudulently stealing more than $37 million by gaining access to the accounts of Meta Platforms Inc. business managers. and associated lines of credit from 2020 to 2022.

Both Iza and Saavedra also pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes. Iza avoided assessing nearly $7 million in federal income tax owed for 2021. Saavedra received approximately $373,146 in unreported income and engaged in a false 2021 tax return.

As part of the plea agreement, Saavedra said he would pay restitution to his victims and pay back taxes with interest. He also agreed to forfeit dozens of designer bags and shoes as well as a money-counting machine, which prosecutors said were either ill-gotten gains or items used to further criminal activity.

From the steps of the federal courthouse, the U.S. attorney. any. Martin Estrada addressed reporters on Friday morning – His last day in office. He referred to Iza as a “massive cyber fraudster” who used deputies as his “enforcers,” and said he and Savedra “benefited greatly from their criminal scheme.”

Sheriff Robert thanked Luna for cooperating with federal authorities to ensure justice, and hinted at the possibility of more to come, saying the investigation is “very much ongoing.”