Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles unveiled charges Monday against ex-law enforcement and military officers accused of using threats and violence in an effort to extort an Irvine man for nearly $37 million in assets.
The four men allegedly entered the victim’s home in 2019 under the guise of a legitimate law enforcement operation and detained the victim his wife, and their two children for hours, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Fearing for his and his family’s safety, the victim signed documents relinquishing his multimillion-dollar interest in a business, identified by prosecutors as Jiangsu Sinorgchem Technology Co. Ltd., a China-based rubber chemical manufacturer.
The raid was allegedly financed by a wealthy Chinese national — an unindicted co-conspirator — with whom the victim shared the business. The two had an ongoing business dispute regarding their ownership interests, prosecutors said.
The indictment, filed Aug. 1, charges Steven Arthur Lankford, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy who stopped working for the department in 2020; and Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland, a former LASD deputy, with conspiracy to commit extortion, attempted extortion, conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law.
Previously, Lankford was involved in a shooting in 1993, which the Sheriff’s Department determined was within policy. In 1993, Cozart — who was working at the Temple City sheriff’s station at the time — was arrested on suspicion of planting false evidence on people who’d been arrested, filing a false report and lying in court while under oath. He initially pleaded no contest to three counts of perjury, but withdrew his plea as he was about to be sentenced.
Also charged in the federal case are Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, a United Kingdom citizen and former member of the British military; and Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, an Australian citizen and former member of the Australian military.
The men were scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon and could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
“It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us,” United States Atty. Martin Estrada said in a statement. “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.”
