According to CoinMeta, former Los Angeles Police Department reserve officer Eric Hallum was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 15 years in prison for kidnapping and robbing a teenager during a home invasion in Los Angeles in 2024, stealing Bitcoin worth approximately $350,000. Judge Mildred Escobedo of the Los Angeles County Superior Court made the ruling on Tuesday after rejecting Hallum's request for a new trial. Court records show that Hallum was sentenced to concurrent life in prison for kidnapping and robbery, plus an additional 15 years in prison. The judge stated that the evidence from the trial indicated that Hallum acted out of “pure and utter greed,” and there was no other conclusion possible. The prosecution claimed that Hallum and three accomplices entered a high-rise apartment, threatened to kill the victim, and forced him to hand over a hard drive containing Bitcoin. The victim handed over the device after being threatened. Although Hallum had left the Los Angeles Police Department nearly two years before the robbery, he was still serving as a reserve officer at the time of the crime. Hallum also faces other robbery cases related to insurance fraud and Bitcoin.