NEW YORK — A second man charged in the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man for his Bitcoin has been indicted.
A Manhattan grand jury handed up the indictment Friday against William Duplessie, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office. The indictment will remain sealed until his arraignment June 11.
Duplessie, 32, faces charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon, police have said. His lawyer, in an email, declined to comment on the indictment.
Prosecutors say Duplessie and fellow crypto investor John Woeltz, 37, lured the victim to a posh townhouse in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood on May 6 by threatening to kill his family.
The man, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been named by officials, said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.
He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device.
The grand jury decision followed Duplessie's brief appearance Friday morning in Manhattan court.
A judge reminded him a protective order was still in effect, though he didn't name who it was concerning.
