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Ex-LASD Deputy Sentenced to One Year for Lying to Obtain GPS Data

Investigators say deputies used official powers to aid private clients in a scheme tied to a wider federal probe into extortion.

Overview

  • David Anthony Rodriguez was sentenced Monday to 12 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy against rights for falsifying a search-warrant application to get GPS pings.
  • Prosecutors say Rodriguez lied to a state court judge by claiming he needed tracking for a robbery suspect when he actually sought location data for a private client's estranged husband.
  • After obtaining the GPS data that showed the man in Utah, Rodriguez shared it with associates who then towed the man's car in Los Angeles, placed a tracking device on the vehicle in Utah, and sent a threatening text.
  • Rodriguez worked while on duty for a private security company run by former LASD detective Eric Saavedra and received cash payments for guarding wealthy clients, a practice tied by prosecutors to a network serving cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza.
  • The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says it fired Rodriguez in October 2023 and has cooperated with federal investigators as more co-defendants plead guilty or await sentencing and questions grow about oversight and deputy private work.