In a stark convergence of law enforcement and criminal enterprise, Michael David Coberg, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputy, has entered a guilty plea in what unfolds as a grim tale of corruption and power abuse. According to KTLA, the 44-year-old ex-officer from Eastvale admitted to leveraging his badge to assist Adam Iza, a cryptocurrency figure embroiled in fraud, in an extortion plot against business rivals.
In October 2021, with a variety of firearms on open display, Coberg, while identifying himself as an active deputy, was reported to have helped Iza coerce $127,000 from a victim under the guise of an official interrogation. Following the victim’s harrowing ordeal, Coberg left him at a shooting range with Iza, who continued to threaten him at gunpoint for additional payments. These troubling details were drawn from a plea agreement uncovered by a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office.
In another disturbing incident, as reported by KTLA, Coberg’s machinations were central to the false arrest of a man in September 2021. The elaborate ruse employed by Coberg involved the victim being lured from Miami to Los Angeles by an ex-girlfriend under pretenses, only to be arrested for drug possession after a pre-planned traffic stop…