Self-proclaimed "Godfather" Adam Iza was sentenced to 78 months for fraud against Meta and hiring police officers

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California stated that a 26-year-old man, Adam Iza, who calls himself the "Godfather," has been sentenced to 78 months in prison and must pay $23.4 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty in January 2025 to charges of conspiracy to violate rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion, and has been in custody since September 2024. This sentence will run concurrently with the 15-year sentence he received last month for an attempted Bitcoin robbery, which will not increase his actual time served.

From August 2021 to April 2022, Iza hired off-duty Los Angeles County police officers as private security and admitted to conspiring with them to obtain law enforcement confidential records and personal data of individuals he had disputes with, obtaining court-authorized search warrants to track these individuals, and having the officers intimidate and threaten them. The Department of Justice stated that five former officers have been convicted for working for him, including 42-year-old Eric Chase Saavedra, who set up a security company providing these officers, and was sentenced to 21 months; 45-year-old Michael David Coberg, who assisted in extorting rivals and arranged false drug arrests, is serving a 63-month sentence. The prosecution wrote in the sentencing memorandum that wealthy individuals cannot buy "search warrants, arrests, badges, or guns" for private disputes.

In another fraud case, since December 2020, Iza gained access to a Meta Business Manager account and its associated credit line, reselling it to advertising companies, with Meta clients being charged for ads they never purchased. After discovering this, Meta refunded the clients and absorbed the losses.