Adam Iza's prison term coincides with a prior 15-year sentence for attempted bitcoin heist.
By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Jamie CrawleyOct 6, 2026, 8:31 a.m. EDT2 min read
Adam Iza, a 26-year-old self-identified businessman known as "The Godfather," has received a 78-month prison sentence for defrauding Meta out of over $37 million, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to fraud, Iza was convicted of tax evasion and of employing off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to intimidate perceived adversaries.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson mandated that Iza pay $23.4 million in restitution as part of his sentence.
Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion. His current sentence will run concurrently with a 15-year prison sentence he received last month in Connecticut for his involvement in an attempted bitcoin robbery in August 2024.
According to prosecutors, Iza exploited Meta Business Manager accounts and related credit lines, selling this access to advertising firms. Consequently, the parent company of Facebook charged clients for advertisements they did not purchase and subsequently issued refunds.
This case illustrates how cryptocurrency custodians can be involved in extensive fraud and tax evasion schemes. Iza admitted to transferring corporate funds linked to the fraud to crypto custodians while disguising his ownership of a company named Zort, as per the DOJ's statement.
Prosecutors reported that Iza received at least $36.4 million from the fraudulent activities, resulting in an estimated tax loss of $13.3 million to the IRS.
Between 2021 and 2022, Iza also hired off-duty deputies to access confidential law enforcement information, personal data, and search warrants to harass individuals with whom he had conflicts. The five deputies involved have since been convicted.
Prosecutors emphasized during sentencing that "Individuals with substantial financial resources must understand that they cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms for use in private disputes," according to the DOJ statement.
Recently, a Brooklyn man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a scheme involving impersonating Coinbase customer service representatives. Ronald Spektor tricked around 100 individuals into believing their accounts had been compromised. In August, Las Vegas businessman Brent Kovar was found guilty of orchestrating a crypto Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 400 investors out of $24 million.