Former LAPD officer sentenced to life for kidnapping and crypto robbery

Eric Halem, a former Los Angeles police officer, was sentenced on Tuesday to concurrent life imprisonment for kidnapping and robbery after a December 2024 home invasion in Koreatown. Halem and three accomplices pretended to serve a search warrant, entered a teenager’s high-rise apartment, and coerced the 17-year-old victim, identified only as Daniel, to hand over a hard drive holding roughly $350,000 in bitcoin. Despite a last-minute bid for a new trial, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo rejected the request, citing the “overwhelming” evidence against him.

Halem, who had been a reserve officer and operated a luxury-car rental firm called DriveLA, was described by the prosecutor as betraying his oath to protect the public. The sentencing hearing also noted that Halem faces additional charges for insurance fraud and a separate crypto-related robbery. His sister and several LAPD detectives observed the proceedings, and the judge urged him to use his incarceration to pursue education.