Former LAPD Officer Gets Life for $350K Bitcoin Robbery

Former Los Angeles Police Department officer Eric Halem has been sentenced to life plus 15 years in state prison for kidnapping and robbing a teenager of a hard drive holding about $350,000 in Bitcoin.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo handed down the sentence on Aug. 4 after rejecting Halem’s request for a new trial. His attorneys argued that his previous legal team failed to call witnesses and properly examine important evidence.

 Eric Halem (Source: CBS News)

Escobedo found that Halem’s former attorneys performed above the required standard and said the evidence against him was overwhelming. She described the crime as driven by “sheer and utter greed” before imposing concurrent life terms for kidnapping and robbery.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Halem must serve most of the additional 15-year term before beginning the life sentences. A spokesperson said he could become eligible for parole after seven years.

A jury convicted the 38-year-old in March after a two-week trial. Prosecutors said Halem and three accomplices posed as officers executing a search warrant to gain entry to an 18th-floor apartment in Koreatown in December of 2024.

The group reportedly arrived in vehicles linked to Halem’s luxury car rental company, wore police-marked vests and used an access code obtained through a conspirator. Trial testimony showed that the attackers restrained the 17-year-old victim and his girlfriend with handcuffs, including LAPD-issued restraints, before threatening to shoot the teenager unless he surrendered the hard drive.

Prosecutors also presented messages indicating that Halem monitored police radio traffic after the robbery and discussed the arrests of alleged accomplices. The jury deliberated for less than a day before finding him guilty.

Halem left full-time LAPD service in 2022 after 13 years but was a reserve officer when the robbery occurred.

He still faces an insurance fraud case involving an allegedly staged Bentley crash and charges tied to a separate crypto-related home invasion that prosecutors say occurred days before the robbery for which he was convicted. In the separate home-invasion case, prosecutors allege two victims were handcuffed while cryptocurrency, cash and jewelry were stolen.

Those remaining charges are allegations, and Halem is presumed innocent in the pending cases. His co-defendants in the teenager’s robbery have not yet been tried and also maintain their innocence.