LAPD Officer Sentenced to Life Plus 15 Years for Bitcoin Robbery

A former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, Eric Halem, has been sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 15 years for kidnapping and robbing a teenager of a hard drive containing approximately $350,000 worth of Bitcoin.

The sentence was handed down by Judge Mildred Escobedo on August 4 after she rejected Halem's request for a new trial. The judge found that the evidence against him was overwhelming and described the crime as driven by 'sheer and utter greed.'

Halem, who left full-time LAPD service in 2022 but was still a reserve officer at the time of the robbery, posed as a police officer with three accomplices to gain entry to an apartment in Koreatown. The group used vehicles linked to Halem's luxury car rental company and wore police-marked vests before restraining the 17-year-old victim and his girlfriend with handcuffs.

Halem monitored police radio traffic after the robbery, according to trial testimony, and discussed the arrests of alleged accomplices. He is also facing charges related to an insurance fraud case involving a staged Bentley crash and a separate crypto-related home invasion that prosecutors say occurred days before the robbery.