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 to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and one count of conspiracy against rights in September 2025. He was also ordered to pay $127,000 in restitution.
In 2021, Coberg, while he was still a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, worked with cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza, 25, according to the Department of Justice. Prosecutors said Iza paid Coberg at least $20,000 a month. In exchange, Coberg helped him extort a rival and arranged an illegal drug possession arrest of another adversary, according to the Justice Department.
"Coberg swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States," prosecutors argued 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 said Coberg and another LASD deputy, Christopher Michael Cadman, conspired with Iza to lure an adversary to L.A. by using the victim's ex-girlfriend in September 2021.
Coberg and the conspirators told the ex-girlfriend to convince the victim to fly to Southern California to meet with her and use drugs together. After landing at LAX, another co-conspirator picked up the victim and drove him to pick up the drugs before heading to Paramount, where an LASD deputy would conduct a traffic stop, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors said Coberg and Cadman lied to the deputy, saying that an informant tipped them off, which prompted the traffic stop. While the deputy arrested the victim, Coberg drove by the scene as Iza sat in the back seat, taking pictures and videos, according to the DOJ.
About a month later, in October 2021, Coberg picked up one of Iza's rivals and interrogated him on Iza's behalf, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors added that while Coberg was watching over 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. After, Coberg took Iza and the victim to a shooting range at Iza's home, according to the DOJ. There, Iza held the victim at gunpoint and demanded that the victim's business partner transfer money.
Coberg is one of a handful of former LASD deputies who pleaded guilty to this scheme, with Cadman pleading guilty last year for his role.
The Justice Department said Iza has been in custody since September 2024. He also pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced in the coming months.