Former LASD deputy gets prison term in Adam Iza extortion obstruction case

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LASD deputy sentenced in Iza case

Highlights

Former LASD deputy Simpkins receives a federal prison sentence for obstructing justice after pleading guilty on March 17 and resigning from the LASD.
Simpkins and Cadman, while working Bel Air security for Adam Iza in 2021, each received $1,400 per shift and 10% of their firm's first-month profits from the Iza contract, according to prosecutors.
Adam Iza pleads guilty in California to conspiracy, wire fraud, and tax evasion, and separately in Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, facing a possible 20-year sentence.

Sentencing details and 2021 incident

As reported by The Block, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson hands down the sentence on Monday. The office says Simpkins pleaded guilty on March 17 to one count of obstruction of justice and resigns from the LASD's Special Enforcement Bureau after his felony plea.

The statement says Simpkins is working private security at Iza's Bel Air residence in 2021 alongside fellow former LASD deputy Christopher Michael Cadman. The two are employed by Saavedra & Associates, a company owned by then-LASD Deputy Eric Chase Saavedra.

Prosecutors say Iza places four or five live 9mm rounds on his desk, twirls a bullet while threatening the victim, and demands a $25,000 transfer before Simpkins and Cadman escort the victim from the property. Simpkins and Cadman are paid $1,400 each for their shifts during the incident, and later receive about 10% each of the firm's total profits from the first month of a long-term security contract with Iza, according to the statement.

Broader legal fallout for Iza

The sentencing adds to a broader set of federal proceedings surrounding Iza, who remains in federal custody since September 2024. He pleads guilty in California in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion, and he has not yet been sentenced in that case.

Separately, the Department of Justice says last month that Iza also pleads guilty in federal court in Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. That charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and stems from an August 2024 attempted bitcoin robbery and kidnapping in Danbury, Connecticut, targeting the parents of a person accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin.

We previously reported on the federal case of Miami resident McDonald Preval, who pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return tied to a wider scheme seeking more than $4.2 million in improper refunds through purported trust returns. The report also noted that the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division is prioritizing fraud investigations, with Preval facing up to three years in prison ahead of his Oct. 6 sentencing.

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