A Los Angeles County jury has found former Los Angeles Police Department officer Eric Halem guilty of kidnapping and bitcoin robbery in a 2024 home invasion that targeted a teenage cryptocurrency holder.
The verdict followed a two-week trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where prosecutors argued that Halem, 38, and three alleged accomplices posed as police officers to gain entry to a high-rise apartment in Koreatown.
Once inside, they restrained a 17-year-old and his girlfriend and stole a hard drive containing private keys to roughly $350,000 in bitcoin.
The victim, who testified under his first name, Daniel, told jurors that the men threatened to kill him if he did not hand over the device. According to testimony, the group wore vests identifying themselves as police and used an access code obtained from a conspirator who had rented the unit to the teenager, according to The Los Angeles Times.
They took the elevator to the 18th floor and entered the apartment during the early morning hours of Dec. 28, 2024.
Daniel’s girlfriend was placed in LAPD-issued handcuffs, and Daniel was subdued and cuffed before the suspects demanded the hard drive with the bitcoin. Prosecutors said the teenager complied under threat of being shot.
Halem served 13 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and left the department in 2022. At the time of the robbery, he was working as a reserve officer. Evidence presented at trial showed that he operated a luxury car rental business, DriveLA, and had pursued other ventures, including an app for actors to audition remotely and discussions about a reality television project.
Jurors deliberated for less than a day before returning guilty verdicts on kidnapping and robbery charges. Halem is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31. Prosecutors have said the charges carry the possibility of a life sentence.
A policeman’s oath ‘violation’
In closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Jane Brownstone told jurors that Halem violated the oath he took as a police officer. She pointed to text messages sent after the robbery in which Halem wrote that he was monitoring police radio traffic.
After two alleged accomplices were arrested, Halem wrote in another message that he knew they were “talking” and that “Someone I know fed wise called me,” according to evidence shown in court.
Halem’s attorney, Megan Maitia, challenged the prosecution’s case and criticized the investigation. She argued that detectives relied on selected text messages drawn from large volumes of data and failed to corroborate the teenager’s account.
Daniel admitted during testimony that he had obtained his bitcoin holdings through fraud, though that admission did not negate the robbery charge.
Maitia also questioned the prosecution’s portrayal of the group as organized criminals. Trial testimony indicated that the suspects drove to the scene in a green Range Rover and an orange Lamborghini Urus registered to Halem’s rental business and equipped with GPS trackers.
If Halem had planned the robbery, she asked, why use vehicles that could be traced to him.
Halem did not testify, and the defense called no witnesses.
His co-defendants have not yet stood trial and have maintained their innocence. One of them, Gabby Ben, 51, has prior fraud convictions.
