A Los Angeles County jury has discovered former Los Angeles Police Division officer Eric Halem responsible of kidnapping and bitcoin theft in a 2024 house invasion that focused a teenage cryptocurrency holder.
The decision adopted a two-week trial in Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom, the place prosecutors argued that Halem, 38, and three alleged accomplices posed as cops to realize entry to a high-rise condo in Koreatown.
As soon as inside, they restrained a 17-year-old and his girlfriend and stole a tough drive containing non-public keys to roughly $350,000 in bitcoin.
The sufferer, who testified below his first identify, Daniel, instructed jurors that the lads threatened to kill him if he didn’t hand over the gadget. In response to testimony, the group wore vests figuring out themselves as police and used an entry code obtained from a conspirator who had rented the unit to {the teenager}, in keeping with The Los Angeles Instances.
They took the elevator to the 18th flooring and entered the condo in the course of the early morning hours of Dec. 28, 2024.
Daniel’s girlfriend was positioned in LAPD-issued handcuffs, and Daniel was subdued and cuffed earlier than the suspects demanded the laborious drive with the bitcoin. Prosecutors stated {the teenager} complied below risk of being shot.
Halem served 13 years with the Los Angeles Police Division and left the division in 2022. On the time of the theft, he was working as a reserve officer. Proof offered at trial confirmed that he operated a luxurious automotive rental enterprise, DriveLA, and had pursued different ventures, together with an app for actors to audition remotely and discussions a couple of actuality tv challenge.
Jurors deliberated for lower than a day earlier than returning responsible verdicts on kidnapping and theft fees. Halem is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31. Prosecutors have stated the fees carry the opportunity of a life sentence.
A policeman’s oath ‘violation’
In closing arguments, Deputy District Lawyer Jane Brownstone instructed jurors that Halem violated the oath he took as a police officer. She pointed to textual content messages despatched after the theft by which Halem wrote that he was monitoring police radio site visitors.
After two alleged accomplices have been arrested, Halem wrote in one other message that he knew they have been “speaking” and that “Somebody I do know fed sensible known as me,” in keeping with proof proven in courtroom.
Halem’s lawyer, Megan Maitia, challenged the prosecution’s case and criticized the investigation. She argued that detectives relied on chosen textual content messages drawn from massive volumes of knowledge and didn’t corroborate {the teenager}’s account.
Daniel admitted throughout testimony that he had obtained his bitcoin holdings by way of fraud, although that admission didn’t negate the theft cost.
Maitia additionally questioned the prosecution’s portrayal of the group as organized criminals. Trial testimony indicated that the suspects drove to the scene in a inexperienced Vary Rover and an orange Lamborghini Urus registered to Halem’s rental enterprise and geared up with GPS trackers.
If Halem had deliberate the theft, she requested, why use autos that might be traced to him.
Halem didn’t testify, and the protection known as no witnesses.
His co-defendants haven’t but stood trial and have maintained their innocence. Certainly one of them, Gabby Ben, 51, has prior fraud convictions.