Overview
- The verdict followed a two-week trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, with jurors reaching a decision in less than a day.
- Prosecutors said Eric Halem and three others posed as police, used LAPD-issued handcuffs, and forced a 17-year-old to surrender a hard drive containing Bitcoin keys worth about $350,000.
- Trial evidence linked the crew to an access code supplied by a conspirator, luxury vehicles registered to Halem’s DriveLA business, and text messages indicating he monitored police radio traffic.
- Halem served 13 years with the LAPD and had left in 2022 but was a reserve officer at the time of the December 2024 Koreatown home invasion.
- His alleged accomplices have not yet stood trial; prosecutors say one co-defendant, Gabby Ben, has prior fraud convictions and alleged ties to Israeli organized crime.