A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy was sentenced Monday, July 20 to one year in federal prison for submitting a false search warrant application to a state court judge — falsely claiming he needed tracking information for a robbery suspect’s cellphone when it was actually sought to track a private client’s estranged husband during the client’s contentious divorce proceedings.
David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, of La Verne pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one federal count of conspiracy against rights. He left the Sheriff’s Department in October 2025.
While serving as a sheriff’s deputy, Rodriguez received cash for his work as a private security guard for a wealthy Los Angeles-based client who had hired a security company owned by a then-colleague at the Sheriff’s Department, Eric Chase Saavedra, 43, of Chino, according to prosecutors.
In August 2021, Rodriguez began working for Saavedra, whose company provided private security services for clients and often employed active deputies and other law enforcement officers.
One client was Adam Iza, 25, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman, and who has been in federal custody since September 2024.
Iza has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery in California and Connecticut and awaits sentencing.
Federal prosecutors said that in July 2022, Rodriguez obtained a search warrant by lying in an affidavit to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. In the affidavit, Rodriguez falsely stated that a detective had contacted him and asked for assistance from the sheriff’s Gang Surveillance Team in connection with a robbery that occurred three days earlier in Cudahy.
The affidavit further falsely stated that Rodriguez was able to positively identify a suspect involved in the robbery case, and that the suspect used two cellphones, authorities said. Rodriguez falsely indicated in the affidavit that the person’s cellphone number was associated with the robbery suspect, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, authorities said.
“This was not impulsive conduct or a momentary lapse in judgment,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “It was a calculated abuse of authority carried out with full awareness of its significance.”
Saavedra pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of making and subscribing to a false tax return. He is expected to be sentenced in the coming months in Los Angeles federal court.