Four former law-enforcement officials, including two who worked as Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, face federal charges for carrying out a raid at the behest of a Chinese national engaged in a legal battle with a business partner who lived in Irvine, authorities said, making threats and demanding nearly $37 million.
— Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, of Canyon Country– Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland– Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, of Australia– Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, of AustraliaLankford and Cozart are former LASD deputies, with Lankford still working for the department when the raid was carried out. Cozart worked for the department from 1982 to 1995, according to an indictment, while Lankford left the department in 2020, federal officials said.
The Chinese national whose request prompted the raid, a woman, is not facing a charge and was not named by authorities. She was embroiled in a lengthy business dispute with the victim, which resulted in at least three lawsuits in China and one in Atlanta, McEvoy said. Lankford drove the men to Irvine in the unmarked LASD vehicle and Lankford identified himself to the family as a police officer, while Cozart lied and said he was an immigration officer, McEvoy said.
The men were paid by the Chinese national for their efforts by November 2019, McEvoy said. Turbett’s company received more than $400,000, with the woman emailing him to thank him for a “very good job.”