A now-former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Monday, Sept. 14 to one year, nine months in federal prison for threatening and intimidating adversaries of a now-imprisoned, self-proclaimed cryptocurrency businessman, and for cheating on his taxes.
Christopher Cadman, 34, of Fullerton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, who also ordered him to pay $25,000 in restitution.
Cadman had pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.
Cadman formerly was employed by Adam Iza, 26, who resided in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, and was a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman who has been in federal custody since September 2024. Iza pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.
Iza is already serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted robbery of bitcoin and a kidnapping in Connecticut in August 2024.
In August 2021, according to court documents, Cadman and Deputy Scott Simpkins of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department intimidated and threatened one of Iza’s rivals. According to Cadman’s plea, Simpkins held the victim at gunpoint during a meeting at Iza’s office inside his Bel Air mansion. Immediately afterward, the victim transferred about $25,000 from his bank account to Iza’s in response to the threat and demand, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In September 2021, Cadman and other law enforcement officers orchestrated a traffic stop in Paramount to arrest the same victim. Cadman helped organize the traffic stop and arrest on Iza’s behalf and received cash payments while he worked for Iza, court papers say.
Cadman also received income of at least $40,500 that he failed to report on his 2021 federal tax return. Cadman owed roughly $11,000 in federal taxes for that year, federal prosecutors said.
Cadman is one of five now-former LASD deputies convicted in connection with Iza’s criminal activities.
“Our legal system entrusts law enforcement officers with extraordinary authority,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in Los Angeles federal court. “Those powers carry a corresponding duty to uphold constitutional rights, exercise sound judgment, and serve the public with integrity.
“When an officer abuses that trust, the harm extends beyond the immediate victim,” the memo said. “It undermines confidence in the rule of law, weakens trust in government institutions, and damages the reputation of the countless officers who serve honorably.”
In a related case, Iris Ramaya Au, 37, of Irvine, Iza’s ex-girlfriend, pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of subscribing to a false tax return for failing to report more than $2.6 million in ill-gotten funds she obtained from Iza’s criminal activities. Au will face up to three years in federal prison at her sentencing hearing, prosecutors said.