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Freedom251 › Blog › Adam Iza

Crypto “Godfather” Gets 78 Months for Deputy Conspiracy and Meta Ad Fraud

By Freedom251 Team · · 2 min read

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Adam Iza was sentenced on October 5, 2026, to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $23,402,766 in restitution for a case involving a conspiracy with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, fraud involving Meta advertising accounts, and tax evasion. The California sentence runs concurrently with a separate 15-year federal sentence imposed in Connecticut the previous month, so the terms overlap rather than add up to 15 years and six months.

What did Adam Iza do?

The case involved two distinct schemes, plus tax evasion. Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s October 2026 sentencing announcement.

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Conspiring with sheriff’s deputies

From August 2021 through April 2022, Iza hired off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies as personal security. DOJ says he conspired with deputies to obtain confidential law-enforcement information, personally identifiable information, and court-authorized search warrants to locate people with whom he had financial or other disputes. He also enlisted deputies to intimidate and threaten those people. DOJ says five former deputies employed by Iza have been convicted of federal crimes.

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Fraud involving Meta advertising accounts

Separately, from December 2020 to September 2024, Iza fraudulently obtained access to Meta business manager accounts and associated credit lines, then sold access to advertising companies. DOJ says Meta clients were billed for advertising they had not incurred. After the billing was discovered, Meta refunded clients and absorbed the loss.

The schemes were not the same conduct: the deputy conspiracy involved using law-enforcement resources in private disputes, while the Meta scheme involved account access and fraudulent advertising charges. DOJ’s earlier January 2025 plea announcement said Iza admitted stealing more than $37 million by fraudulently accessing Meta business manager accounts and associated lines of credit from 2020 to 2022.

What do the different dollar amounts mean?

The figures refer to different measures and periods; they should not be treated as interchangeable or all described as Meta’s loss.

Figure What it refers to
Approximately $37 million Money connected with sales of access to Meta advertising accounts that went into Iza’s companies’ bank accounts from 2020 through 2022, according to DOJ’s October 2026 announcement.
At least $36,360,844 Gross income from the Meta fraud scheme that Iza admitted through 2023, according to DOJ’s October 2026 announcement.
$13,286,152 Total loss to the IRS, according to DOJ’s October 2026 announcement.
$23,402,766 Restitution ordered in the California case, according to DOJ’s October 2026 announcement. The announcement does not identify this amount as restitution to Meta alone.

Why was the sentence described as six years?

The California term is 78 months, which is six years and six months; “six years” is a rounded headline description. The term runs concurrently with the separate 15-year sentence imposed in Connecticut in September 2026 for Iza’s involvement in an attempted Bitcoin robbery. Concurrent sentences overlap, so the 78 months are not added to the 15 years as a consecutive term.

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What prosecutors said about the deputy scheme

In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued: “Individuals with substantial financial resources must understand that they cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms for use in private disputes.” The DOJ release attributes this statement to prosecutors collectively, not to a named speaker.

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Adam Izacryptocurrency crimefederal sentencingLos Angeles County Sheriff’s DepartmentMeta fraud

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