A Retired Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer will spend decades behind bars after kidnapping and robbing a teenager for his crypto fortune.
On June 4, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo handed Eric Halem two life sentences with the possibility of parole for his role in a home invasion at a 17-year-old teenager’s residence in Koreatown. After two weeks of deliberation, Halem was found guilty and convicted of kidnapping and robbery.
According to KTLA, on Dec. 28, December 2024, Halem and two other co-defendants, driving a green Range Rover and a red Lamborghini, went to an apartment where a teenager, identified only by his first name, Daniel, lived. Though the defendant had been retired for two years and was still an active reserve officer, Halem and his accomplices wore vests that identified them as the police with search warrants for the residence.
Upon arrival at the apartment, Halem and his crew subdued Daniel and placed his girlfriend in LAPD-issued handcuffs. Then, the defendant threatened to kill the teenager unless he gave up his hard drive containing $350,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
During the sentencing hearing, the judge admonished Halem for his disregard for the law, noting that he believed Daniel was a criminal who had amassed the crypto fortune by defrauding others. Halem requested for a retrial after he claimed his former attorneys misrepresented him due to a failure to call any witnesses or examine key evidence.
Escobedo denied his request.
“The dilemma in this case was not counsel’s ability to perform. The dilemma in this case was the extremely overwhelming evidence against Mr. Halem,” said the judge reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The 13-year veteran of the LAPD still faces charges from an insurance fraud case that involved Halem allegedly staging a Bentley crash and another crypto robbery case that ensued days before Daniel’s kidnapping and robbery.
Halem was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison for other charges and will serve both life sentences concurrently.
His co-defendants are still awaiting trial, and one of them is reported to be affiliated with an Israeli organized crime group.
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