LOS ANGELES — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - California, Central), published as received.

LOS ANGELES – A former deputy and helicopter pilot with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) was sentenced today to 63 months in federal prison for helping a now-jailed, self-styled cryptocurrency businessman extort a rival and arrange the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021.

Michael David Coberg, 44, of Eastvale, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered him to pay $127,000 in restitution.

Coberg pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and one count of conspiracy against rights.

Coberg – then employed as an LASD deputy and helicopter pilot – worked on the side with Adam Iza, 25, formerly of Beverly Hills and Newport Coast. Iza, a self-proclaimed “Godfather,” was engaged in fraudulent marketing and cryptocurrency schemes and has been in federal custody since September 2024. He has pleaded guilty to federal charges and is expected to be sentenced in the coming months.

Coberg’s contract with Iza allowed him to work as a business partner and advisor, as opposed to simply working security shifts. Coberg and Iza at one point planned to start a business selling anabolic steroids. Iza paid Coberg at least $20,000 per month for his services.

“Coberg swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Instead, [he] betrayed that oath and those he swore to protect, abusing the awesome power of his badge. And he did so for an all-too-common reason: greed.”

         Participation in Extortion

In October 2021, Coberg accompanied other security guards to pick up a victim whose business partner was having a financial dispute with Iza. After transporting the victim – identified in court documents as “L.A.” – to Iza’s residence, Iza placed a firearm on the desk and displayed an assault rifle, which was placed on the ground near the desk.

Coberg informed the victim that he was an active-duty law enforcement officer and interrogated the victim about the financial dispute Iza had with L.A.’s business partner. While Coberg stood watch over the victim, Iza demanded – and recorded a video of – the victim transferring $127,000 to a bank account Iza controlled. Iza then directed his security guards to take away the victim’s passport and told them to drive the victim back to the victim’s hotel.

The next day, Coberg continued to interrogate the victim about the financial dispute and the location of the victim’s business partner. Later that day, Coberg took Iza and the victim to a shooting range in Iza’s residence and left the two individuals alone. Iza then held the victim at gunpoint and demanded the victim’s business partner transfer money to him, which the victim’s business partner did later that day.

         False Traffic Stop and Arrest

In September 2021, Coberg conspired with Iza and others to lure another victim – identified in court documents as “R.C.” – from Miami to Los Angeles to set up the victim and cause him to be arrested with illegal narcotics. During the previous month, Coberg learned of a dispute between Iza and the victim and that Iza and two corrupt LASD deputies working for Iza forced the victim at gunpoint to transfer $25,000 from the victim’s bank account to an account Iza controlled.

Coberg and other co-conspirators set up a plan in which the victim’s ex-girlfriend called the victim and pretended to be interested in pursuing a romantic relationship to convince the victim to fly to Los Angeles to meet with her to use drugs together. At Coberg’s advice and counseling, the co-conspirator purchased the airplane ticket for the victim, picked him up at Los Angeles International Airport in a white Tesla, drove the victim to obtain drugs, and later traveled to a location in Paramount where an LASD deputy would make the traffic stop and arrest.

Christopher Michael Cadman, 34, of Fullerton, a corrupt LASD deputy who had participated in the intimidation of the victim in August 2021 resulting in the $25,000 payment to Iza, also helped set up the false arrest. Cadman pleaded guilty in August 2025 to federal criminal charges and is expected to be sentenced in the coming months.

With Cadman’s assistance, Coberg lied to a fellow LASD deputy that a confidential informant was driving a white Tesla with an individual who had an outstanding arrest warrant and possessed illegal drugs. That deputy later conducted the traffic stop, searched the Tesla, found cocaine in the car and psilocybin mushrooms inside the victim’s backpack, and arrested the victim.

During the arrest, Coberg slowly drove past the scene in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV – with the window rolled down – as Iza watched from the back passenger seat. Iza took videos and photographs of the victim’s arrest.

After the arrest, Coberg texted Cadman to thank him for facilitating the traffic stop and stated, “the kid enjoyed it,” referencing Iza. Iza later taunted the victim by sending him a photograph of the victim’s arrest in progress and the victim’s booking photo, and texting him, “[f]or a drug dealer, you [expletive] with the wrong people.”

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.