Adam Iza, a 26-year-old self-styled businessman who called himself "The Godfather," was sentenced Tuesday to 78 months in federal prison for defrauding Meta of more than $37 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson also ordered him to pay $23.4 million in restitution.

The sentence runs concurrently with a 15-year prison term Iza received last month in Connecticut for his role in an attempted bitcoin robbery in August 2024.

Iza pleaded guilty in January 2025 to conspiracy against rights, wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. Prosecutors said he gained access to Meta Business Manager accounts and their associated credit lines, then sold that access to advertising companies. Meta billed clients for advertisements they never purchased and later issued refunds.

How much did Iza take from the scheme?

Prosecutors put Iza's personal take at no less than $36.4 million in income. The scheme caused an estimated $13.3 million tax loss to the IRS, according to the DOJ.

The case also illustrates how crypto custodians can serve as conduits in broader fraud and tax-evasion structures. Iza admitted moving corporate income tied to the fraud to crypto custodians while concealing his ownership of a company called Zort, the DOJ said.

What role did sheriff's deputies play?

Between 2021 and 2022, Iza hired off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to obtain confidential law-enforcement information, personal data and search warrants, using them to track and harass people with whom he had disputes. The five now-former Los Angeles deputies involved have all been convicted.

Prosecutors drew a sharp line at sentencing. "Individuals with substantial financial resources must understand that they cannot purchase access to confidential databases, investigative tools, warrants, arrests, badges, or firearms for use in private disputes," they said, according to the DOJ statement.

Is this part of a broader enforcement pattern?

The Iza sentence follows a run of recent crypto-related fraud prosecutions in federal courts. A Brooklyn man, Ronald Spektor, received 12 years in prison last month for impersonating Coinbase customer service representatives and deceiving roughly 100 people into believing their accounts had been hacked. In August, a Las Vegas jury convicted businessman Brent Kovar of running a crypto Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 400 investors out of $24 million.

For Meta, the case exposes operational risk in how Business Manager accounts and advertising credit lines are provisioned and monitored, a vulnerability that allowed third parties to monetize unauthorized access over an extended period. For compliance teams at crypto custodians, the DOJ's account of corporate income routed through custody wallets while ownership of Zort stayed concealed points to continued scrutiny of beneficial-ownership opacity around corporate crypto accounts.

Iza's concurrent terms mean his release date will be governed by the longer 15-year Connecticut robbery sentence, with the $23.4 million restitution obligation attached to the federal fraud case remaining enforceable through standard collection mechanisms.