Former LA Sheriff’s Deputy Sentenced for Running Errands for a Crypto Mogul
A federal judge sentenced former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Michael Coberg to five years and three months in prison on Monday for using his badge to muscle rivals of a self-proclaimed cryptocurrency mogul. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson told Coberg his conduct amounted to a serious abuse of power.
Coberg’s defence attorney had requested a two-year term on the grounds that his client had otherwise led an exemplary life. Anderson sentenced him to 63 months and three years of supervised release, plus $127,000 in restitution, the exact amount extorted from the scheme’s first victim.
The man at the centre of the enterprise was Adam Iza, 25, a Beverly Hills and Newport Beach businessman who ran a crypto trading platform called Zort and built what prosecutors described as a criminal operation mixing fraudulent marketing, illegal hacking of Facebook accounts, and violent intimidation of rivals. Iza called himself “the Godfather.”
He pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion and remains in federal custody awaiting sentencing. Coberg and at least three other then-deputies collected side income from Iza as private security; Coberg personally received at least $20,000 per month.
Extortion at a Shooting Range
Coberg’s guilty plea covered two incidents. In the first, in October 2021, he helped Iza extort a victim identified in court documents as “L.A.,” who had a business dispute with Iza. Coberg brought L.A. to Iza’s home, identified himself as an active-duty law enforcement officer, and stood watch as Iza filmed L.A. transferring his entire bank balance to Iza’s account.
Coberg then escorted both men to a shooting range in the basement of Iza’s mansion, where Iza held L.A. at gunpoint and demanded L.A.’s business partner wire additional money. The partner complied. Total extorted: $127,000.
The second incident, also in 2021, involved a rival identified as “R.C.” Coberg and Iza lured R.C. from Miami to Los Angeles, had him taken to acquire drugs, then tipped off a Sheriff’s Department deputy to make a staged traffic stop and arrest. The arrest was designed to eliminate a business opponent under cover of routine law enforcement, the basis for the conspiracy against rights charge Coberg admitted to.
Where the Other Defendants Stand
Coberg is not the only former deputy implicated. Christopher Cadman, another ex-LASD deputy, pleaded guilty in August 2025 to helping Iza and awaits sentencing. The LASD said Coberg formally separated from the department on September 4, 2025.
In a written statement, the department called his conduct a clear violation of its standards. Iza has not yet been sentenced; his case covers the extortion scheme, wire fraud tied to Zort, and tax evasion. Sentencing dates for both Iza and Cadman have not been publicly set.
