A former Los Angeles Police Department officer was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his role in a 2024 home invasion robbery in Koreatown in which he and a group of co-conspirators stole $350,000 worth of cryptocurrency from a teenager.The ex-officer, Eric Halem, made a last-ditch request for new trial that was rejected by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo. The judge said she wrestled with her decision on Halem’s punishment, changing her mind several times before sentencing him to concurrent life terms for kidnapping and robbery.Escobedo acknowledged receiving letters from Halem’s family and friends that described him as an honorable, caring man and a loving father. But she said the evidence presented in trial suggested otherwise, revealing a man willing to resort to violence out of “sheer and utter greed.”Ultimately, she said, “there could’ve been no other conclusion.”As she explained her rationale, Halem, who appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit, sat with his head bowed, eyes downcast. Halem’s attorney, Joseph Weimortz, argued that his client is entitled to a new trial based on several legal missteps by his former lawyers, claiming their lack of familiarity with the state court system led to a failure to call any witnesses or examine key evidence. After the judge forbade them from using certain PowerPoint slides, Halem’s former attorneys decided against presenting an opening statement to jurors, scuttling any possibility of a favorable outcome, Weimortz said.Escobedo disagreed, saying that the previous attorneys “performed well above the standard of a reasonably competent attorney” given Halem’s insistence on a speedy trial — a risky gambit in any criminal case.“The dilemma in this case was not counsel’s ability to perform,” she said. “The dilemma in this case was the extremely overwhelming evidence against Mr. Halem.”Watching from the gallery were several detectives from the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division and Halem’s sister, who wiped tears from her eyes as the sentence was read aloud.Halem, 38, was convicted in March, following a two-week trial. A jury found that in December 2024, Halem and three other men posed as police serving a search warrant to enter a high-rise apartment in Koreatown rented by a teenager who had amassed a small fortune in crypto in part by scamming others.Prosecutors said the 17-year-old — sworn in to testify under just his first name, Daniel — gave up a hard drive containing bitcoin after Halem and his alleged accomplices threatened to kill him.After deliberating for less than a full day, a jury found Halem guilty of kidnapping and robbery, among other crimes. Halem had already been gone from the LAPD for nearly two years at the time of the robbery. But the 13-year department veteran was still serving as a reserve officer and had several lucrative side businesses, including renting luxury cars and launching an app that allowed actors to audition remotely. He was also flirting with the idea of developing a reality show about his life, former associates told The Times.During her closing argument at trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jane Brownstone told jurors that Halem had broken the oath he took as a officer to protect and serve the public. According to trial testimony and evidence, Halem and his alleged accomplices drove to Koreatown in a green Range Rover and an orange Lamborghini Urus owned by the former officer’s car rental business, DriveLA.Wearing vests that identified them as police, they took the elevator to the 18th floor and punched in the access code to the teenager’s apartment, which they’d obtained from a conspirator who’d rented out the unit.After restraining the teenager’s girlfriend with LAPD-issued handcuffs, the men subdued Daniel, cuffed him and threatened to shoot him if he didn’t give up his hard drive, the two victims testified.During Tuesday’s sentencing, Escobedo noted Halem had preyed on individuals who “perhaps shouldn’t be seen as victims, because they were criminals themselves,” but that that didn’t excuse his actions. To abuse his power, by masquerading as a police officer, “is heinous and egregious,” she said.But it didn’t factor into her decision, she said.“It is not that I have a higher standard for Mr. Halem (because he used to be a police officer),” she said. “It is the facts of this case that are an affront for the court and should be an affront to the public.”Halem still faces pending charges in a separate case for insurance fraud and for another similar crypto-related robbery that was said to have occurred a few days before the Koreatown incident.Halem argued for leniency through his attorney, telling the court he was a father and the sole breadwinner in his household. Brownstone, the lead prosecutor, questioned the sincerity of that argument, pointing out that the former officer is charged with two serious crimes around Christmastime 2024.“So he was not with his family during the holidays — he was doing this,” she said.During trial, Halem’s legal team argued that the LAPD had run a sloppy investigation. Investigators cherry-picked from terabytes of data a handful of text messages that they showed to jurors, Halem’s former attorney Megan Maitia argued in her closing remarks.His co-defendants have yet to stand trial and maintain their innocence. One, Gabby Ben, has twice been convicted of fraud and is alleged to have ties to Israeli organized crime. At a bail hearing in November, Ben, 51, shrugged and shook his head when Brownstone said he was affiliated with the “Israeli mafia.”After handing down the sentence Tuesday, Escobedo urged Halem to use his time behind bars as an opportunity to grow as a person and earn a college degree.“I’m not going to pretend that this is going to be a lovely experience — it will not be,” the judge said, but said she wished him luck before asking a deputy to take him away.Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.
