One of the suspects accused of engaging in a gruesome torture plot inside a SoHo townhouse to retrieve an Italian man’s Bitcoin password was released from Rikers Island on a $1 million bond Thursday, according to online jail records.
Jonathan Woeltz, 37, posted the mammoth sum a week after a Manhattan judge agreed to release him to home confinement under electronic monitoring.
The Kentuckian crypto investor stands accused of holding Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan hostage for three weeks inside the luxe Prince St. property, taking away access to his phone and passport, and subjecting him to three weeks of misery.
Woeltz and an alleged accomplice, 33-year-old William Duplessie, allegedly bound and beat the Italian crypto trader, threatened to murder his family, and cut him with a chainsaw. Prosecutors further allege they shocked the 28-year-old victim with electric wires, burned and pistol-whipped him, urinated on him, and hung him over the ledge of a fifth-story staircase and threatened to kill him if he didn’t give up the Bitcoin password.
The alleged extortion plot was uncovered after a barefoot and bleeding Carturan escaped the townhouse and waved down a traffic agent.
Woeltz and Duplessie have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, firearm possession, and related offenses and could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Lawyers for the two men, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, contend they engaged in lawful “frat house” hazing antics and that Carturan happily participated in all-night benders and orgies at the plush townhouse.
Woeltz is expected to await his trial under home confinement in Manhattan, per the terms outlined by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro at last week’s bond hearing.
If he posts bond, Duplessie is expected to await trial from his father’s Florida home.
Originally Published: July 31, 2025 at 4:12 PM EDT
