A former LAPD officer received a life sentence for robbing $350,000 in Bitcoin during a home invasion in December 2024.
A Los Angeles judge sentenced former LAPD officer Eric Halem to life plus 15 years in prison for a December 2024 home invasion involving the theft of $350,000 in Bitcoin. Halem, 38, was convicted of kidnapping and robbery after a jury deliberated less than a day in March.
Prosecutors said Halem and three accomplices entered a Koreatown apartment at 2:30 a.m., handcuffed victims, and transferred funds from their crypto account. The group used an access code from a conspirator who had rented the unit and arrived in luxury vehicles registered to Halem’s rental business.
Halem remains eligible for parole after seven years, according to the district attorney’s office. He also faces additional charges for insurance fraud and a separate crypto robbery days before the incident.