Saif Faiq
Introduction
Saif Faiq, a 22-year-old from St. Louis, Missouri, pleaded guilty on June 8, 2026 in federal court in Hartford, Connecticut, to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery — the Hobbs Act offense tied to his role in an attempted robbery of Bitcoin and a kidnapping in Danbury in August 2024. U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan for the District of Connecticut announced the plea, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. Faiq has been detained since his arrest on November 12, 2025, and the June 2026 release scheduled his sentencing for August 28, 2026.
Background Information
The case grew out of August 25, 2024, when Danbury Police arrested six Florida men involved in a violent carjacking of a Lamborghini Urus and the kidnapping of the vehicle’s two occupants. According to court documents and statements made in court, the kidnapping victims are the parents of an individual who participated in the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin — and the plot against them was an attempt to steal some of that cryptocurrency. An alleged co-conspirator of Faiq’s had already crossed paths with the family: he had an altercation with the victims’ son in a Miami nightclub in July 2024, weeks before the crime.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Pleaded guilty. Saif Faiq admitted his part in the conspiracy that planned an attempted robbery of Bitcoin belonging to the family of a major crypto theft’s participant and ended in their kidnapping in Danbury in August 2024.
On August 25, 2024, Danbury Police arrested six Florida men after a violent carjacking of a Lamborghini Urus and the kidnapping of two occupants of the vehicle. The investigation revealed that the kidnapping victims are the parents of an individual who participated in the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin. In an attempt to steal some of that Bitcoin, Faiq and others planned and coordinated the attempted robbery and ultimately the kidnapping. The crime turned a remote cryptocurrency theft into a violent attack on an ordinary family in Connecticut, aimed at prying loose a share of the stolen digital fortune.
Faiq’s own role, as laid out in court documents and statements made in court, ran through the entire operation. He recruited participants for the crime, traveled to Connecticut for the planned home invasion and kidnapping, coordinated with his brother Adam Iza, and helped conduct surveillance on the victims. The surveillance, recruitment and travel placed him inside the planning layer of the scheme rather than on its edges: the release states plainly that Faiq and others planned and coordinated the attempted robbery and, when that path failed, ultimately the kidnapping. His guilty plea on June 8, 2026 put his name on that conduct in the form of a federal conviction.
The machinery around him was equally deliberate. Faiq’s alleged co-conspirator — the man who had the July 2024 altercation with the victims’ son in a Miami nightclub — was in regular communication with certain of the kidnappers in the days before the crime, provided funding for it, and helped arrange the participants’ transportation and lodging. Faiq’s brother, Adam Iza, communicated via cellphone and encrypted messaging applications with certain of the kidnappers, directed them as to the logistics of the scheme, and also provided funding. Faiq pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, known as Hobbs Act Robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, who credited the FBI New Haven Violent Crimes Task Force, FBI Los Angeles, FBI St. Louis, and the Danbury Police Department with the investigation; the task force includes members from the Connecticut State Police and several local police departments. Sullivan also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California, the Eastern District of Missouri, the District of Columbia, and the District of New Jersey, and the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Danbury, for their assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen L. Peck and Daniel George. The conviction carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Current Status
Faiq has been detained since his arrest on November 12, 2025. The June 2026 release scheduled his sentencing for August 28, 2026; no fetched source carries the sentencing outcome, so the public record here ends at the guilty plea with the sentence still ahead. His brother, Adam Iza, pleaded guilty to the same offense on June 1, 2026, and is detained while awaiting sentencing. Six other individuals charged with offenses related to the carjacking and kidnapping have all pleaded guilty. A related release shown on the same page reported that Martel Williams, 27, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to an offense stemming from his involvement in the attempted robbery of Bitcoin in August 2024.
Impact on Their Career/Life
At 22, Faiq now carries a federal felony conviction for Hobbs Act conspiracy, with a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment awaiting him at sentencing on August 28, 2026. He has already spent the period since his November 2025 arrest in detention, and the plea formally brands him a participant in a plot that moved from encrypted messaging and surveillance to a carjacking and kidnapping of two parents. Whatever work or life he had in St. Louis is now bracketed by federal custody and the terms the court imposes.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut, “Missouri Man Admits Role in Cryptocurrency Robbery Scheme” — source