Ex-LASD Deputy Gets 18 Months for Lying in Iza Probe

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson sentenced Scott Allen Simpkins to 18 months in federal prison and ordered a $10,000 fine after Simpkins pleaded guilty on March 17 to one count of obstruction of justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced.

Prosecutors say the underlying incident occurred in 2021 at a Bel Air residence. Charging documents allege cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza placed four or five live 9mm rounds on his desk, twirled a bullet and demanded a $25,000 transfer from a victim before Simpkins and fellow former deputy Christopher Michael Cadman escorted the person from the property.

Both deputies were working private security for Iza through Saavedra & Associates, a firm owned by then-LASD deputy Eric Chase Saavedra. Investigators reported Simpkins and Cadman were paid $1,400 each for the shifts that included the encounter. After the deputies helped the firm secure a longer-term security contract with Iza, the company paid them roughly 10% of the firm's profits from the contract's first month.

Simpkins admitted to federal agents that he had lied about what he witnessed during the encounter. His felony conviction prompted his resignation from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Bureau and will appear on his criminal record.

The sentencing comes while Adam Iza faces separate federal prosecutions. He has been in federal custody since September 2024. In January 2025 he pleaded guilty in California to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion and has not yet been sentenced in that case. The Department of Justice also reported he pleaded guilty in Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery in connection with an August 2024 attempted bitcoin robbery and kidnapping in Danbury, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.