A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in federal prison for lying to FBI agents about witnessing a $25,000 extortion inside the Bel Air mansion of cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza. Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, California, was also fined $10,000 by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Simpkins pleaded guilty on March 17 to a single count of obstruction of justice and resigned from the LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau after admitting to the felony. He admitted he falsely denied seeing Iza place four or five live 9mm rounds on his desk, roll a bullet between his fingers while threatening a party planner referred to as “R.C.,” and demand the victim transfer $25,000. Simpkins and fellow then-deputy Christopher Michael Cadman had been paid $1,400 each to provide private security at the event, and later collected about 10% of first-month profits from the security firm that employed them after helping land Iza’s contract.
Adam Iza’s criminal empire
Iza, 25, who styled himself “The Godfather,” has been in federal custody since September 2024. He described himself as a crypto businessman and ran a trading firm called Zort out of Bel Air, where he spent roughly $100,000 a month on private muscle. In January 2025 he pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to wire fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy against rights, admitting to a $37 million scheme built on hijacked Meta advertising accounts. On June 1, 2026, he pleaded guilty in Connecticut to a Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy tied to the violent August 2024 kidnapping of a couple near Danbury—part of an attempt to seize stolen Bitcoin. Iza awaits sentencing in both districts.
Wider corruption case
Simpkins’s sentence is the latest in a sweeping investigation. Former deputy Michael David Coberg is serving 63 months and was ordered to repay $127,000 for helping Iza extort a rival and stage a fake drug arrest. Eric Chase Saavedra, who ran the security company that employed off‑duty deputies, and Christopher Cadman have both pleaded guilty and await sentencing. The FBI warned Simpkins that lying was a crime when he was questioned in November 2024; he later admitted his false statements were meant to divert the investigation.
