Two former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies and former members of the British and Australian militaries are facing decades in prison after they allegedly extorted an Irvine man out of tens of millions of dollars.
The four allegedly “acted as a sham law enforcement team” when they entered the home of the man, who has not been publicly identified, and threatened him and his family with violence and deportation in 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
The defendants were hired by an “unindicted co-conspirator” to coerce the man into signing away almost $37 million in cash and shares of a Chinese business the unindicted co-conspirator and the man owned together that were worth an additional “tens of millions of dollars,” the release said.
Earlier this month, federal officials charged these four with perpetuating a “sham raid” that leaned on the authority of the LASD:
- Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, of Canyon Country, a retired LASD deputy who stopped working for LASD in 2020 and owns a Santa Clarita-based process service company
- Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland, a former LASD deputy who owns and operates a San Bernardino County-based private investigation and security services company
- Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, of Australia, a United Kingdom citizen and former member of the British military who owns an Australia-based private investigation and asset recovery business
- Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, of Australia, an Australian citizen and former member of the Australian military who owns an Australia-based risk management services business
According to prosecutors, it was the Australian-turned-Brit Turbett who was the co-conspirator’s first point of contact. Turbett then hired Cozart to find the victim, and Cozart paid Lankford to search the LASD database for the victim in violation of department policy.
In another violation of LASD policy, Lankford drove to the June 17, 2019, “bogus raid” in an unmarked LASD vehicle containing Cozart, Turbett and Hart, who’d joined Turbett on the trip from Australia, according to officials.
“Lankford and Cozart then approached Victim 1 outside his home,” the release said. “Lankford allegedly identified himself as a police officer and showed his badge, while Cozart falsely identified himself as an ‘Immigration’ officer.”
While being held for hours in a room with his wife and two children and prevented from leaving, the victim “was slammed against a wall and choked,” and the four also “threatened to deport Victim 1 and his wife and permanently separate them from their 4-year-old son unless Victim 1 complied with their demands,” the release added.
The victim then signed the documents turning over money and ownership shares worth tens of millions of dollars, for which Turbett’s company was paid nearly $420,000. All were paid by November of that year, though officials did not stipulate if the $420,000 was split amongst the four or if that was Turbett’s share alone.
Either way, the unindicted co-conspirator seemed satisfied, thanking Turbett for doing a “very good job” in an email, officials said.
Though the four were not charged for more than five years after the incident, the victim brought it to the attention of legitimate law enforcement moments after it occurred.
Despite the threats of deportation if he reported the incident, the victim immediately contacted the Irvine Police Department.
“Lankford thereafter spoke with an IPD officer and falsely claimed that he had been at Victim 1’s home for a legitimate law enforcement purpose, that Victim 1 consented to all parties being in his home, and that no force was used,” the release said.
A year before the Irvine incident, Lankford had been honored with a Quality of Service Award by the LASD for his work on a cold-case murder, an honor the department shared on social media.
Now, however, Lankford and the three others face charges of conspiracy to commit extortion, attempted extortion, conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under the law. They’re scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles.
“It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “It is unacceptable and a serious civil rights violation for a sworn police officer to take the law into his own hands and abuse the authority of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
Lankford’s attorney declined comment to KTLA.
If convicted, the men could be sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on each extortion count and 10 years on each civil rights count, which would total a maximum of 60 years.