The post Alleged Bitcoin Torture Suspect Freed on $1M Bail After 2 Months in Custody appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Crimes involving cryptocurrency are worryingly on the rise, becoming ever more aggressive and, as in this case, quite shocking. Regardless of whether alleged or not, this is the harsh reality we are currently facing in this day and age. Pleading Not Guilty According to a story from Fox News, two culprits are accused of torturing an Italian millionaire in his apartment in New York, reportedly over a stash of $100 million in Bitcoin, and one of them was released after spending two months in the Rikers Island prison. The discharged is John Woeltz, 37, on the condition of a $1 million parole, with the release coming a week after a Manhattan judge granted bond for him and an alleged accomplice, William Duplessie, aged 33. Both have pleaded not guilty, and the latter has remained in custody. The duo is accused of kidnapping and tormenting Italian crypto trader Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan. The defense attorneys on the case stated that the alleged torture very closely resembled a “fraternity-like rite of passage.” Woeltz’s attorney, Wayne Gosnell, noted the following in a previous hearing: “Mr. Carturan was there in the role of a pledge, he was essentially being hazed.” The alleged torturer, who was released and is also involved in cryptocurrency trading, evaded questions about whether he actually carried out the claims against him, and how he felt to be freed from custody as he was walking out of the Supreme Court building in Manhattan. As a condition to his release, the sum of which, reportedly, was a combination of cash and property put up by his father, he is subject to home arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet. He will only be allowed to leave the premises of his home for doctor’s appointments, meetings with lawyers, or in the event of an…

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Filed under: News - @ August 2, 2025 8:24 pm