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Ex-LAPD reserve officer sentenced to life plus 15 years for $350K Bitcoin robbery

Aug 5, 2026By ClusterWire.news· AI-assisted news brief

A former Los Angeles Police Department reserve officer, Eric Halem, has been sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years after his conviction in connection with a 2024 Los Angeles home invasion targeting a teenager’s Bitcoin holdings. Prosecutors said the robbery involved kidnapping and stealing a hard drive believed to contain about $350,000 worth of Bitcoin [1] [2].

Reports on the case describe Halem and an accomplice crew posing as police to gain entry to a Koreatown high-rise, where a 17-year-old was reportedly handcuffed and the hard drive was taken. Separate coverage also framed the incident as one of the more high-profile crypto-related robberies in recent years and said a jury found Halem guilty of kidnapping and robbery [3] [4].

The sentencing resolves the criminal case over the 2024 theft of a hard drive reportedly holding roughly $350,000 in Bitcoin [1].

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