Key facts
- Former LAPD officer Eric Halem was sentenced to life plus 15 years for a 2024 home invasion robbery.
- The robbery involved the theft of $350,000 in Bitcoin from a teenager.
- Halem and accomplices impersonated police officers during the home invasion.
- Halem was found guilty of kidnapping and robbery after a two-week trial.
- He faces separate charges for insurance fraud and another crypto robbery.
A former Los Angeles police officer, Eric Halem, has been sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years for his role in a home invasion robbery that resulted in the theft of $350,000 in Bitcoin. Halem, 38, was found guilty of kidnapping and robbery by a jury after a two-week trial.
Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo imposed concurrent life terms, rejecting Halem's request for a new trial and stating that the evidence demonstrated the crime was motivated by "sheer and utter greed." Halem will be eligible for parole after serving seven years. Prosecutors detailed that on December 28, 2024, Halem and three other men entered a Koreatown apartment, handcuffed two victims, and transferred funds from their cryptocurrency accounts, also taking cash and jewelry.
The group arrived in vehicles registered to Halem's car rental business and used an access code provided by a conspirator who had rented the apartment. Halem had left the LAPD nearly two years prior, after 13 years of service, but was a reserve officer at the time of the incident. The 17-year-old victim, who testified using only his first name, had acquired his Bitcoin holdings partly through scamming others. The judge emphasized that this did not justify the crime, describing a former officer posing as law enforcement to commit robbery as "heinous and egregious."
Halem's family disputes the verdict, with his mother, Randi, calling the trial "a miscarriage of the law." Co-defendants Luis Banuelos, Pierre Louis, and Mishael Mann have pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping for ransom, residential robbery, and home invasion robbery and are awaiting trial. Halem also faces separate allegations of insurance fraud and a second crypto robbery that allegedly occurred days before the Koreatown incident.
The case highlights a rise in "wrench attacks," where criminals use violence to extort cryptocurrency. CertiK reported 52 such attacks globally in the first half of 2026, with losses totaling $124.1 million. The tactic of impersonating police is also noted as a recurring method among crypto criminals, with instances reported in France and Ukraine involving similar extortion schemes.