Deputy Used Fake Warrant to Track Man’s Phone, Gets 1 Year

David Anthony Rodriguez, 45, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy against rights and was sentenced on Monday to one year in federal prison for submitting a false search-warrant affidavit.

Court filings say Rodriguez told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that a detective had asked the LASD Gang Surveillance Team to assist with a robbery investigation in Cudahy and falsely identified a robbery suspect who used two phones. He then claimed the victim’s phone number belonged to that suspect even though he knew the man was not involved.

After the court approved the warrant, Rodriguez served it on the phone provider, obtained GPS-precision location pings and tracked the man to Utah. Filings show Rodriguez shared the location data with Eric Chase Saavedra, a former LASD deputy who ran a private security company.

Saavedra pleaded guilty in February 2025 to conspiracy against rights and to making and subscribing to a false tax return and is awaiting sentencing. Court filings say Saavedra’s company regularly employed active deputies and other law enforcement officers.

While an active deputy, Rodriguez accepted private security work for wealthy clients. One client, Adam Iza, has pleaded guilty in California to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and tax evasion, and in Connecticut to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery in a bitcoin kidnapping case. Iza remains in federal custody awaiting sentencing.

Prosecutors told the court Rodriguez knew participants had obtained information unlawfully and that the data was used to threaten, intimidate or oppress people. The Justice Department wrote: “Rodriguez obtained a search warrant for the victim by lying in an affidavit to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.”

Federal rules and Justice Department guidance set procedures for obtaining electronic tracking data. Court records say Rodriguez bypassed those safeguards by submitting false statements in a sworn affidavit. He admitted his role and accepted responsibility as part of his guilty plea.