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A former Los Angeles County deputy was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for his role in a cryptocurrency businessman’s extortion scheme.
Michael David Coberg, 44, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and one count of conspiracy against rights. He was also ordered to pay $127,000 in restitution.
In 2021, while still serving as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Coberg collaborated with cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza, 25, according to the Department of Justice. Prosecutors stated that Iza paid Coberg at least $20,000 a month. In return, Coberg assisted in extorting a rival and arranged an illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary.
"Coberg swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "Instead, [he] betrayed that oath and those he swore to protect, abusing the awesome power of his badge. And he did so for an all-too-common reason: greed."
The Justice Department revealed that Coberg and another LASD deputy, Christopher Michael Cadman, conspired with Iza to lure an adversary to Los Angeles by using the victim’s ex-girlfriend in September 2021.
Coberg and the conspirators instructed the ex-girlfriend to persuade the victim to fly to Southern California to meet her and use drugs together. After the victim landed at LAX, another co-conspirator picked him up and drove him to obtain drugs before heading to Paramount, where an LASD deputy conducted a traffic stop.
Prosecutors said Coberg and Cadman falsely told the deputy that an informant had tipped them off, prompting the traffic stop. While the deputy arrested the victim, Coberg drove by the scene with Iza in the back seat, taking pictures and videos.
About a month later, in October 2021, Coberg picked up one of Iza’s rivals and interrogated him on Iza’s behalf, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors added that while Coberg supervised the victim, Iza demanded and recorded a video of the victim transferring $127,000 to Iza’s bank account.
Coberg continued to interrogate the victim the following day. Afterwards, Coberg took Iza and the victim to a shooting range at Iza’s home. There, Iza held the victim at gunpoint and demanded that the victim’s business partner transfer money.
Coberg is among several former LASD deputies who pleaded guilty to involvement in this scheme, with Cadman pleading guilty last year for his role.
The Justice Department stated that Iza has been in custody since September 2024. He also pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced in the coming months.
