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 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy was sentenced today to 21 months in federal prison for abusing his status as a law enforcement officer to threaten and intimidate adversaries of a now-imprisoned, self-proclaimed cryptocurrency businessman, and for cheating on his taxes.

Christopher Michael Cadman, 34, of Fullerton, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered him to pay $25,000 in restitution.

Cadman pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

Cadman formerly was employed by Adam Iza, 26, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, and was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who has been in federal custody since September 2024. Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 5 before Judge Anderson.

Iza is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Connecticut in August 2024.

According to court documents, in August 2021, Cadman and LASD Deputy Scott Simpkins intimidated and threatened a victim who was one of Iza’s adversaries. According to Cadman’s plea, Simpkins held the victim at gunpoint during a meeting at Iza’s office inside his Bel Air mansion. Immediately afterward, the victim transferred approximately $25,000 from his bank account to Iza’s bank account in response to the threat and demand.

In September 2021, Cadman and other law enforcement officers orchestrated a traffic stop in Paramount to arrest the same victim. Cadman helped organize the traffic stop and arrest on Iza’s behalf and received cash payments while he worked for Iza.

Cadman also received income – at least $40,500 – he knowingly failed to report on his 2021 federal tax return, which he signed and filed with the IRS in February 2022. Cadman owed approximately $11,000 in federal taxes for that year.

“Our legal system entrusts law enforcement officers with extraordinary authority,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Those powers carry a corresponding duty to uphold constitutional rights, exercise sound judgment, and serve the public with integrity. When an officer abuses that trust, the harm extends beyond the immediate victim.  It undermines confidence in the rule of law, weakens trust in government institutions, and damages the reputation of the countless officers who serve honorably.”

Cadman is one of five now-former LASD deputies convicted in connection with Iza’s criminal activities:

  • Michael David Coberg, 45, of Eastvale, is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence for helping Iza extort a rival and arranging the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary in Paramount in 2021. Judge Anderson sentenced Coberg on March 16.
  • Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was sentenced on July 13 to 18 months in federal prison for obstructing a federal investigation into Iza’s extortion of $25,000 from a party planner at Iza’s Bel Air mansion.
  • David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, of La Verne, was sentenced on July 20 to one year in federal prison and who had worked for Iza as a private security guard, pleaded guilty to submitting a false search warrant application to a state court judge on behalf of a different client.
  • Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino, a former LASD deputy and a former federal task force officer, pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of making and subscribing to a false tax return. Saavedra founded a company – Saavedra & Associates LLC – that provided security to Iza and hired LASD deputies to do so. Among other crimes, Saavedra used his powers as a sworn law enforcement officer to improperly obtain court-authorized search warrants related to intimidating, threatening, and harassing Iza’s adversaries. Saavedra is expected to be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Relatedly, Iris Rabaya Au, 37, of Irvine, Iza’s ex-girlfriend, pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of subscribing to a false tax return for failing to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten funds she obtained from Iza’s criminal activities. Au will face a statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison at her sentencing hearing, which is expected to occur in the coming weeks.

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

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