Former Sheriff Sentenced to Five Years for Helping a Crypto Entrepreneur Extort and Frame Business Rivals

A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for using his law enforcement authority to run an extortion and false arrest operation on behalf of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur.

According to press release from DOJ, Michael David Coberg, who served as both a deputy and a helicopter pilot for the LASD, was ordered to serve the sentence and pay $127,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. Prosecutors described his conduct as a profound abuse of governmental power driven by greed.

How the Scheme Worked

The operation centered on Coberg’s relationship with Adam Iza, a Beverly Hills-based cryptocurrency entrepreneur who styled himself the Crypto Godfather. Iza paid Coberg at least $20,000 per month to serve as a business partner, advisor, and enforcer, using his badge and authority to intimidate Iza’s rivals in ways a private individual could not.

The most direct instance came in October 2021. Coberg used his law enforcement credentials to gain access to a business rival identified in court documents as Victim L.A. While Coberg stood watch, Iza held the victim at gunpoint and forced a transfer of $127,000 to a bank account under his control. The presence of an active sheriff’s deputy made resistance considerably more complicated for the victim than it would have been in a conventional criminal encounter.

The second documented scheme was more elaborate. Coberg orchestrated a staged traffic stop and arrest of another Iza rival, lying to fellow deputies about the existence of a confidential informant to justify the stop. Cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms were planted to support the arrest and ensure the target faced criminal charges. The fabricated drug case was designed to neutralize a business competitor through the legal system rather than direct confrontation.

The Broader Network

Coberg was not operating alone within the department. At least two other former LASD deputies, Christopher Michael Cadman and David Anthony Rodriguez, also pleaded guilty for their roles in Iza’s operations. The involvement of multiple law enforcement officers suggests the arrangement was more structured than a single corrupt deputy making opportunistic decisions.

Iza himself pleaded guilty in early 2025 to charges including conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion. He remains in federal custody awaiting sentencing, meaning the full legal accounting for his role in the scheme has not yet concluded.

What This Case Represents

The Coberg sentencing is not primarily a crypto story. It is a corruption and abuse of power case that happened to involve a crypto entrepreneur as the central beneficiary. The $20,000 monthly payments Iza made to Coberg were not blockchain transactions or token transfers. They were straightforward cash-for-services arrangements where the service was law enforcement authority for hire.

What the crypto dimension adds is context about the kind of disputes that can arise in an industry that operates partly outside conventional legal and financial infrastructure. Business rivalries in sectors with clear regulatory frameworks get resolved through courts, contracts, and arbitration. In markets where those mechanisms are less established or less accessible, other forms of leverage become more attractive to those willing to use them. Iza’s decision to hire active law enforcement officers to intimidate competitors reflects a specific kind of calculated escalation.

The case also serves as a reminder that regulatory and law enforcement attention on crypto is not limited to the technology itself. The people operating within the industry, and the relationships they build with those outside it, attract the same scrutiny as any other sector where significant money moves quickly and oversight has historically been limited.

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