Federal prosecutors said two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies confirmed Monday that they committed criminal acts while working as private security for a Southern California crypto giant known as the “Godfather.”
David Anthony Rodriguez pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights, according to a statement Monday by the US Lawyer’s Office for the Central District of California. Christopher Michael Cudman agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy against rights and subscribing to false tax returns.
Rodriguez, 43, of Raverne, said in a judicial agreement he lied to the judge in 2022 to improperly obtain a search warrant for the victim’s GPS location for a client who hired him for private security, a statement from the US lawyer’s office said.
Rodriguez shared the victim’s location with 42-year-old Chino, another deputy councilman who runs a private security business and pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy against rights and subscription to false tax returns.
The U.S. Prosecutors’ Office in Los Angeles said deputies and other offices who participated in the scheme had “harassed, threatened, and threatened the victim” with its location information. Rodriguez will face up to 10 years in federal prison at the Nov. 10 sentencing hearing.
Cadman and Rodriguez, former employees of Beverly Hills and Newport Beach businessman Adam Iza, 24, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion. Isa has been in federal prison since September and a sentence hearing is scheduled this year.
According to a statement from the lawyer, Cadman, 33, of Fullerton, and aides called “LASD Deputy 6,” who were called “LASD Deputy 6,” in August 2021, “blackmailed and threatened the victim, one of Iza’s enemies.”
At a meeting at Iza’s Bel-Air Mansion, LASD Deputy Chapter 6 said “he had detained the victim at the muzzle,” and then “the victim moved about $25,000 from the bank account to IZA’s bank account in response to threats and demand.”
The following month, Kadman and other officials “adjusted traffic stops at Paramount to arrest the same victim,” Kadman admitted in a judicial agreement. He also admitted that he received payments in cash while employed by the IZA.
Cudman also admitted to receiving at least $40,500 in revenue, but he intentionally did not report his 2021 federal tax return, the U.S. Attorneys’ Office wrote. He will face up to 13 years in federal prison after pleading guilty.
In a statement, the Sheriff’s Office said that it was working with the federal investigation, with Rodriguez and Cadman being “released from missions” in October 2023 and October 2024 respectively.
“As detailed in federal court documents, these alleged cases are deeply intrusive and do not reflect the values of our department or the dedication of the majority of our lawmakers serving in good faith,” he said.
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