Tag: The U.S. Department of Justice

BEL AIR—On July 14, the U.S. Department of Justice, Central District of California issued a press release announcing the arrest of two Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies and another man who is a cryptocurrency businessman.

According to the press release, both Sheriff’s deputies and the crypto currency expert, Adam Iza, aka “The Godfather,” stand accused of using their positions in law enforcement while working for private security off site.

On July 14, David Anthony Rodrigues, 43 of Laverne pleaded guilty of one count of conspiracy against rights.

Christopher Michael Cadman, 33 of Fullerton, is expected to plead guilty to two-counts of conspiracy against rights charge and providing a false tax return. Upon sentencing, Cadman is facing up to 13 years prison time.

Reports indicate that Cadman and Rodriguez were employed by the 24-year-old cryptocurrency expert, Adam Iza, who formerly lived in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills.

Iza has been in Federal custody since September 2024. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. His sentencing date is scheduled for December 15.

The following information came directly from the DOJ press release:

“According to court documents, in August 2021, Cadman and a law enforcement officer identified as “LASD Deputy 6” intimidated and threatened a victim who was one of Iza’s adversaries. LASD Deputy 6 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 admitted in his plea agreement to helping organize the traffic stop and arrest on Iza’s behalf and to receiving cash payments while he worked for Iza.

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

In a separate plea agreement, Rodriguez admitted that in July 2022, he used his powers as an LASD deputy to “improperly obtain a court-authorized search warrant, lying to a judge relating to an alleged robbery investigation.”

This was done for Rodriguez to obtain a GPS location/information associated with a separate victim’s cell phone on behalf of an additional client who had also hired Rodriguez as a security guard.

Rodriguez obtained and shared the location coordinates with other co-conspirators of the victim including LASD Deputy, and former Federal Task Force Officer, Eric Chase Saavedra, 42, of Chino. Saavedra also ran a private security company.

According to the DOJ, LASD deputies and other co-conspirators would use information obtained from the court-authorized search warrant to harass, threaten, and intimidate the victim.

On February 6, Saavedra pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against rights, and one count of filing a false tax return.

Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson scheduled a sentencing hearing for Rodriguez on November 10.

The FBI and the IRS are jointly investigating this matter with assistance of LASD. The Assistant U.S. Attorney Maxwell K. Coll of the Cyber Intellectual Property Crimes Section is the prosecutor in these cases.

By Sharon

BEVERLY HILLS—On Monday, March 24, a second suspect pleaded guilty to federal charges in the jewelry theft that occurred at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on August 7, 2024.

Jesus Eduardo Bryan Padron Rojas, a 19-year-old Venezuelan National, pleaded guilty to federal charges for his part in an armed robbery. According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Padron Rojas pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act).

On March 18, Canyon News reported on March 17, James Mauricio Sepulveda Salazar, 22, a Colombian National pleaded guilty to the same charge. According to the press release issued by the DOJ, Sepulveda Salazar’s plea agreement indicates he was the getaway driver in the Hotel robbery.

Court records indicate the victim of the robbery was only identified by the courts, by the initials, “T.A.” He was sitting out in Beverly Wilshire’s café with his family when he was approached by the thieves who brandished a black semi-automatic weapon at him, demanding his Silver Patek watch.

Investigating officers executed a search warrant at the Air BNB that the suspects, Padron Rojas, and Sepulveda Salazar, who were both in the country illegally, stayed. It was there that they were found in possession of a firearm once registered to former Naval Reservist and LAPD officer, Christopher Donner.

Sepulveda Salazar and Padron Rojas were identified later that day when investigators conducted a traffic stop. They were traveling in Chevrolet Equinox officers believed to be involved in another robbery that occurred in the 400 block of Doheny Road in Beverly Hills.

In 2013, Donner reportedly went on a killing spree following some unproven criminal allegations. Donner’s life ended in a standoff between himself and the responding law enforcement officers.

The watch was later recovered in a separate case in Miami, Florida. Sepulveda Salazar is facing 20 years in Federal Prison. It is not clear by the time of this publication if Padron Rojas has had his sentencing hearing yet.

By Sharon

HOLLYWOOD HILLS—On March 21, Casey Mahoney, 48, of Hollywood Hills who was initially indicted in October 2021, and Joseph Parkinson, formerly of Costa Mesa who was named in the lawsuit as a body broker, were charged for their crimes.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice webpage, the two defendants were named in a 22-page indictment after receiving thousands of dollars in kickbacks for patient referrals.
Some of the insurance companies who were paying for the patient’s treatments were Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna Life Insurance, Cigna Health and Life, and Cigna Behavioral.

The patients were those in need of substance abuse treatment, and or behavioral health treatment for addictions and or mental illness.

Mahoney was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison and has been ordered to pay $240,000 in fines.

In the U.S. vs. Casey Mahoney and Joseph Parkinson, together were charged on 27 counts including crimes of conspiracy to solicit, money-laundering,… through Healing Path Detox LLC in Orange County, and Get Real Recovery Inc., out of San Juan Capistrano.

Mahoney’s Co-Conspirator, Joseph Parkinson held bank accounts in the name of Star Treatment LLC and Moore Recovery Solutions at both First Bank and J.P. Morgan.
The following came directly from the DOJ website:

“Beginning on a date unknown, but no later than on or about October 24, 2018, and continuing to at least on or about December 15, 2020, in Orange County, California, within the Central District of California, and elsewhere, defendants MAHONEY and PARKINSON knowingly conspired with Broker 1, Broker 2, Moore, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit offenses against the United States, namely:

Soliciting and Receiving Illegal Remunerations for Referrals to Clinical Treatment Facilities, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 220(a)(1); and b. Paying and Offering Illegal Remunerations for Referrals to Clinical Treatment Facilities, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 220(a)(2).”

Defendant MAHONEY would pay tens of thousands of dollars per month in kickbacks to defendant PARKINSON and the other Brokers via accounts that they controlled in the names of the business entities that they controlled, both as compensation in exchange for referring patients or patronage to Healing Path and Get Real, and to induce them to continue to refer patients to those facilities.

When defendant MAHONEY accrued a large amount of kickback debt owed to defendant PARKINSON and the other Brokers, defendant MAHONEY would pay those debts (1) by writing checks to them for tens of thousands of dollars beyond what defendant MAHONEY owed.

In total during the conspiracy, defendant MAHONEY would pay at least $2,698,725 in kickbacks to defendant PARKINSON and the other Brokers. Complete details may be found here.

By Sharon