A veteran detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's anti-gang division admitted that he violated the civil rights of multiple victims through intimidation, extortion, illegal search warrants and other abuses of power, according to a plea agreement filed this week.
Eric Chase Saavedra, a serving Los Angeles County councilman and former federal task force officer, agreed this week to plead guilty to his role in executing a criminal tender for cryptocurrency tycoon Adam Iza Conspiracy and tax offenses committed. " Officials said. Saavedra faces up to 13 years in prison.
Iza, 24, has agreed to plead guilty to similar charges in addition to wire fraud. He faces up to 35 years in prison, though a plea deal could reduce his sentence. Iza, who has been in custody since September, was flown to Las Vegas last month for surgery to remove the rods from leg-lengthening surgery, which prosecutors say he paid for with money hidden from tax collectors.
Court documents say that as early as 2021, Iza paid Saavedra's private security company $100,000 a month to hire Saavedra as a deputy sheriff and also operated the company's around-the-clock security guard. bodyguard. According to Saavedra's plea agreement, the mercenary protected Iza and sometimes even committed crimes for him. Saavedra admitted that during each 12-hour shift, he would select two of the 20 to 25 active deputies and pay them $750 in cash. According to the agreement, some deputies regularly carry firearms and flash LASD badges, although it is not an official job of the department.
Saavedra, 41, also admitted to illegally using his department credentials to access sensitive law enforcement databases and obtain personally identifiable information of people with whom Iza had personal or business disputes, as well as his associates and family members.
In one case, Saavedra created a false search warrant to intimidate someone, according to the agreement. In another case, the officer admitted that he misled a narcotics detective, leading to a drug raid on the home of a man Iza had previously extorted. In the third case, Saavedra said he lied to obtain a search warrant, saying he needed to track a man's cell phone as part of a firearms investigation.
After he obtained a search warrant and discovered the victim's location, he provided that information to Iza - and three gunmen later tried to break into the man's home.
"Mr. Iza's relationship with Mr. Saavedra was nothing more than a murderous partnership between thieves and crooked police officers," said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher. "The public should be able to trust law enforcement officers, but Mr. Saavedra violated his payday oath."
Both Izza's and Saavedra's plea agreements describe a series of crimes involving Saavedra and other unnamed sheriff's deputies who allegedly harassed, threatened and blackmailed others to further Izza's crimes Target. So far, at least six deputies linked to the case have been relieved of their duties, As The Times reported last year. The Sheriff's Department did not immediately confirm whether Saavedra was one of them.
Iza's attorney, Joseph Sadat, called his client "one of the smartest people I have ever met" in a statement.
Sadat said: "Given their age and social status, the others involved in this matter are more morally reprehensible than Mr. Iza's actions. It is hoped that they will follow his path soon, because the truth will bring redemption."
Saavedra's attorneys and a Sheriff's Department spokesman said earlier Friday they would respond to the plea agreement but did not immediately issue a statement.
In his plea, Saavedra said he first learned of Iza around August 2021 through a recent job as a security guard at the cryptocurrency tycoon's Bel Air mansion. colleagues. That same month, Iza hired Saavedra's company to provide security services.
The deputy had been with the police department for a long time and, according to his plea agreement, in 2018 got the Lakewood Station's unofficial logo tattooed on his left ankle, which was a spade with the number 13 inside.
Saavedra admitted to recruiting approximately 20 to 25 deputies and others to accompany Iza 24/7. Sometimes, Saavedra works shifts on her own.
According to his plea agreement, Saavedra frequently used his LASD credentials to access confidential databases to obtain information about Iza. Sometimes he would ask colleagues who worked for his company to do the same.
Saavedra said he and other representatives provided the cryptocurrency tycoon with personal information related to several individuals, including three victims — identified in the agreement as RC, EZ and DD — with whom Iza had sex dispute.
One of the earliest incidents described by prosecutors in court documents last year occurred at a party in August 2021 at Izabelair's mansion. Prosecutors said Iza was unhappy with the party and wanted party planner RC to reimburse him for half of his expenses.
Last year, prosecutors said in an indictment that two of Iza's bodyguards forced RC at gunpoint to remit $25,000 for his services.
In his plea agreement this week, Saavedra admitted he knew the bodyguard, both police officers, had pointed a gun at someone. One of Izza's associates claimed RC was a major fentanyl and cocaine distributor, which led Saavedra to pass that information to a narcotics detective, court documents show.
Shortly after, narcotics detectives told Saavedra that they had obtained a search warrant under Saavedra's agreement and found no illegal drugs at RC's home.
Iza also admitted that in October 2022, a sheriff's deputy he hired unlawfully detained another victim, identified by the initials LA. According to his guilty plea, Iza held the victim at gunpoint and forced him to transfer $127,000 into a bank account he controlled.
In late 2021, Saavedra said he became aware of a dispute between Iza and EZ over a laptop believed to hold more than $100 million in cryptocurrency. Through court records and interviews, the Times identified EZ as Enzo Zelocchi, a self-described "actor, producer and innovator."
According to court documents, Iza told Saavedra that the laptop had been stolen and that he wanted it so he could access and convert cryptocurrencies. In a previous interview with The Times, Zeloki said the laptop was his.
Iza later told Saavedra that he believed Zeloki's colleague DD might have owned the laptop. In December 2021, under Saavedra's agreement, Saavedra, Iza and two others - including another deputy - went to DD's Orange County home to confront him, but DD refused to open the door , and talk to them through the window.
Saavedra admitted in his plea agreement that he identified himself as a law enforcement officer, showed his badge and told DD that a stolen laptop was sounding an alarm at his home. DD denied the laptop was stolen and the group left once police arrived.
According to Saavedra's agreement, Iza later told Saavedra that he hired a private investigator and spent a large amount of money to find Zeroki and the laptop, but without success. Iza said he was frustrated by the lack of progress from private investigators, prompting Saavedra to come up with a solution: serve a search warrant for the GPS location information associated with Zeloki's phone.
Saavedra admitted that in January 2022, he applied for and obtained a search warrant for multiple phone numbers, including Zeloqui's. According to his plea agreement, Saavedra lied in a sworn deposition that Zeloki's phone number was linked to a suspect in the firearms investigation.
After obtaining an illegal search warrant, Saavedra began receiving pings from Zeloki's cell phone, which determined his approximate location, court records show. Soon after, Saavedra admitted to traveling to a Los Angeles neighborhood where the phone rang and found Zeloqui outside a home in an apartment complex.
According to court documents, Saavedra told Iza that he found Zeroki and the two staked out the apartment complex and home.
Iza admitted that he led three men in an attempt to force open the door to Zeroki's residence, but their efforts failed when Zeroki fired in their direction and they fled.
In 2022, Iza told Saavedra that one of his business partners, identified in court records as Client 1, had been involved in the theft of large amounts of cryptocurrency and was interested in hiring private security. According to Saavedra's plea agreement, Iza told Saavedra that he could get Client 1's business if he thought there was something to worry about.
To do this, Iza allegedly suggested scaring Client No. 1 with a fabricated investigation. So Saavedra created a false search warrant using the Sheriff's Department's official template to make it appear legitimate.
After writing the false document, which mentioned cryptocurrencies and digital services, Saavedra arranged for another deputy to share the document with Izza, who showed it to potential clients, court documents allege.
Soon after, Client 1 hired Saavedra's company as a security guard.
According to the plea agreement, Saavedra and his company provided services to Iza from approximately August 2021 to March 2022, when Iza traveled to Dubai. When Izza returned to Los Angeles in July 2024, those services resumed until Izza was arrested in September.
Iza also admitted in his plea that he stole more than $37 million by fraudulently obtaining Meta Platforms Inc. business manager accounts and their associated credit lines from 2020 to 2022.
Both Iza and Saavedra pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes. Iza avoided an assessment of nearly $7 million in federal income taxes due in 2021. Saavedra received approximately $373,146 in unreported income and signed a false 2021 tax return.
As part of the plea agreement, Saavedra said he would pay restitution to the victims and repay back taxes with interest. He also agreed to forfeit dozens of designer bags and shoes as well as a money counting machine, all of which prosecutors said were ill-gotten gains or items used to further criminal activity.