Lying LA sheriff’s deputy who worked as muscle for crypto ‘godfather’ learns fate

A shady former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who lied to investigators to help a convicted crypto fraudster avoid jail time has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, prosecutors said.

Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was also fined $10,000 after he admitted he falsely testified in the case of a wannabe crypto king known as “The Godfather,” according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Simpkins — a former LASD deputy and SWAT officer — gave phony testimony in an effort to help Adam Iza, a 25-year-old crypto entrepreneur who ran fraudulent marketing and cryptocurrency ventures, escape from his crimes unpunished, feds said.

Iza, who is accused of using violence and intimidation to conduct his fraud, has been in federal custody since September 2024. He now awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to a slew of crimes connected to his schemes.

Simpkins on March 17 pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice. He resigned from LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau after admitting to the felony.

Prosecutors say he attempted to aid Iza by lying to FBI agents that he never saw the wannabe crypto mogul threaten and extort $25,000 from a party planner at his Bel Air mansion.

The caper began in August 2021, when Iza hired Simpkins, fellow then-LASD deputy Christopher Michael Cadman, 34, of Fullerton, and other law enforcement officers to provide private security at a party at his massive Bel Air home.

After the party ended, at around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2021, Simpkins learned the party planner — identified in court documents as “R.C.” — had been kicked out of the party for erratic behavior.

The next day, Simpkins was working another shift at Iza’s Bel Air mansion and, along with Cadman, escorted R.C. to Iza’s office and closed the door behind them.

Iza then placed four or five rounds of live 9mm ammunition on his desk across from the party planner, prosecutors said.  

Iza picked up the live ammunition and twirled a bullet in his hand as he demanded that R.C. transfer $25,000 to a bank account he controlled. After the transfer occurred, Simpkins and Cadman escorted the party planner out of Iza’s mansion.

Upon Iza’s arrest in September 2024 and the feds bringing charges related to his extortion of R.C. —along with other crimes — the FBI executed a search warrant on Simpkins’ person and seized his phone.

Two months later, Simpkins lied repeatedly to FBI agents and federal prosecutors that he saw no ammunition or shell casings inside Iza’s office during the incident with R.C. He lied again when he said he saw no financial transactions occur, according to the feds.

In addition to Iza and Simpkins, Cadman and former LASD deputy and one-time federal task force officer Eric Chase Saavedra, among others, have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges and await sentencing.

Former LASD Deputy Michael David Coberg, 44, of Eastvale, is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay $127,000 in restitution for helping Iza extort a rival and arrange the sham illegal drug possession arrest of another enemy in 2021.

As part of his plea agreement, Simpkins admitted that he knew his lies would interfere with the criminal investigation and prosecution of Iza.

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