A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after admitting he lied to federal investigators about threats made by cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza during a 2021 extortion incident. According to reports from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson also imposed a $10,000 fine on Scott Allen Simpkins, who pleaded guilty on March 17 to one count of obstruction of justice. Simpkins resigned from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Bureau after entering his felony plea. The sentencing was handed down on July 13, marking the second time a corrupt LASD deputy has been imprisoned in connection with Iza's criminal enterprise. Federal prosecutors have dubbed Iza the crypto 'Godfather' in connection with his sprawling operation that touched on fraud, extortion, kidnapping, and civil rights violations.
Federal prosecutors said Simpkins falsely denied witnessing cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza threaten a victim with live ammunition during an incident at Iza's Bel Air home in 2021. Court records revealed that the caper began in August 2021, when Iza hired Simpkins, fellow then-LASD deputy Christopher Michael Cadman, and other law enforcement officers to provide private security at a party at his massive Bel Air home. After the party ended at around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. on August 15, 2021, Simpkins learned the party planner — identified in court documents as "R.C." — had been kicked out of the party for erratic behavior. The next day, Simpkins was working another shift at Iza's Bel Air mansion and, along with Cadman, escorted R.C. to Iza's office and closed the door behind them. Iza then placed four or five rounds of live 9mm ammunition on his desk across from the party planner, prosecutors said. Iza picked up the live ammunition and twirled a bullet in his hand as he demanded that R.C. transfer $25,000 to a bank account he controlled. After the transfer occurred, Simpkins and Cadman escorted the party planner out of Iza's mansion. The charge stems from Simpkins' decision to lie about witnessing Iza threaten and extort the party planner, with prosecutors noting he lied repeatedly to FBI agents and federal prosecutors that he saw no ammunition or shell casings inside Iza's office during the incident.
The U.S. Attorney's Office reported that the two deputies received $1,400 each for their work that day. After helping Saavedra & Associates secure a longer-term security contract with Iza, the company paid each of them about 10% of its profits from the contract's first month, prosecutors added. This compensation structure highlights the financial incentives that may have influenced the deputies' actions during the extortion incident. Iza allegedly paid LASD deputies tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month for what amounted to personal enforcement services, with another former deputy Michael David Coberg receiving a significantly harsher 63-month prison sentence for his role in enabling Iza's extortion activities. The investigation reveals that Iza employed off-duty LASD deputies for criminal operations connected to his crypto business, including the fraud scheme involving approximately $37 million through Zort, his cryptocurrency trading platform.
Iza remains in federal custody since September 2024 after pleading guilty in California in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion. In a separate prosecution, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in June 2026 that Iza also pleaded guilty in federal court in Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, a charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. His legal troubles extend well beyond intimidating party planners, as he was arrested in September 2024 and faces charges tied to the $37 million phishing scheme that operated by hacking Meta business manager accounts between 2020 and 2022. Simpkins isn't even the deputy who got the worst of it - Michael David Coberg, another former LASD deputy tangled up in Iza's web, received a 63-month sentence for his involvement. As part of his plea agreement, Simpkins admitted that he knew his lies would interfere with the criminal investigation and prosecution of Iza.
The Connecticut case involved a 2024 kidnapping plot targeting the parents of Veer Chetal, a man accused of participating in the theft of about 4,100 bitcoin. According to the Justice Department, Iza and his brother, Saif Faiq, organized the scheme in an attempt to extort cryptocurrency. As reported by the DOJ, Faiq pleaded guilty on June 9, when he admitted recruiting six men from Florida, arranging their travel to Connecticut, and coordinating surveillance before the attack in Danbury. The group allegedly forced Sushil and Radhika Chetal from their vehicle after staging a collision, assaulted them, and briefly held them captive. The six alleged attackers later pleaded guilty to kidnapping and carjacking offences, while Veer Chetal separately pleaded guilty in November 2025 to charges connected to the bitcoin theft and is awaiting sentencing. The investigation touches on fraud, extortion, kidnapping, civil rights violations, and the kind of story that sounds like it was pitched as a Netflix limited series.
