Ex-LA County deputy sentenced for lying to obtain search warrant

A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy was sentenced to a year in federal prison for lying in a search warrant application to get GPS tracking information for his client's estranged husband. 

David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2025, according to the Department of Justice. The Sheriff's Department said they fired Rodriguez in October 2023.

"These alleged actions, as detailed in federal court documents, are deeply disturbing and do not reflect the values of our Department or the dedicated work of the vast majority of our deputies who serve with integrity," LASD wrote in a statement in July 2025. "The Department has fully cooperated with the ongoing federal investigation."

Investigators said Rodriguez worked for a private security company, owned by Eric Chase Saavedra, a former LASD detective who pleaded guilty to similar charges. 

In July 2022, Rodriguez was guarding a wealthy woman going through a contentious divorce proceeding, whom he later developed a personal relationship with, according to the Justice Department. Federal investigators said his client claimed she feared for her safety and believed her estranged husband had her valuable belongings.

The DOJ said Rodriguez obtained the search warrant by lying to a federal judge that a detective needed help solving a robbery in Cudahy. He stated that he needed the GPS location for the estranged husband even though he knew that he was not connected to the robbery investigation, according to prosecutors. 

After obtaining the GPS data, which showed that the estranged husband was in Utah, Rodriguez handed over the information to Saavedra. The former deputy admitted in his plea agreement that he knew Saavedra and other LASD deputies working for the private security company unlawfully obtained information to intimidate or threaten other people, according to the DOJ. 

Federal prosecutors said his accomplices placed a tracking device on the victim's car and also sent a threatening text to him. 

Saavedra and other former LA County deputies pleaded guilty for their role in a cryptocurrency businessman Adam Iza's scheme to extort and intimidate his rivals. 

Iza and Saavedra are awaiting sentencing, according to the Justice Department.