Crime & Arrests

The second suspect in NYC's notorious crypto torture caper is now cooling his heels behind bars after being hit with formal charges by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors filed a criminal court complaint Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, charging Bitcoin entrepreneur William Duplessie with several felonies -- kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon.

At his arraignment Tuesday evening, Duplessie was ordered held without bail after prosecutors asked the judge to remand him due to the severity of the crimes.

The tenth day of witness testimony in the Diddy criminal trial was all about former Bad Boy employee Capricorn Clark ... and prosecutors tried to use her testimony to make the racketeering charge against Diddy stick.

Capricorn was the only witness Tuesday and she told the jury all about her time working under Diddy at Bad Boy ... and there were some noteworthy moments.

While Capricorn was testifying under oath, a pregnant Cassie was being rushed to a hospital ... our sources tell us she's in the labor and delivery unit, but it's not clear if she's given birth yet, as we're also told there may have been some complications.

3:05 PM PT -- A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson tells TMZ ... The pardon process could take up to a few days before the Chrisleys are released. The Chrisleys might even wind up at a halfway house before they're totally free.

An attorney for the Chrisleys, Alex Little, partner at Litson PLLC, said in a statement ... "President Trump recognized what we’ve argued from the beginning: Todd and Julie were targeted because of their conservative values and high profile. Their prosecution was tainted by multiple constitutional violations and political bias."

President Trump is looking out for his fellow reality TV stars ... because POTUS just issued full pardons for "Chrisley Knows Best" stars Todd and Julie Chrisley.

The reality TV couple had been serving hard time after being convicted in 2022 of financial crimes ... but now they will be getting released from federal prison.

Trump called Todd and Julie's daughter Savannah to give her the good news.

Fivio Foreign's year has been a total wash, seeing he's been jailed since January on a weapons charge ... there could be a light at the end of the tunnel for the "City of Gods" rapper!!!

The New Jersey PIO tells TMZ Hip Hop that Fivio pled guilty to terroristic threats -- threat to commit a crime of violence in the 3rd degree.

Fivio had been facing 4 other charges, including unlawful possession of a weapon and aggravated assault, but Fivio's attorney Adam Lustberg tells us those counts are expected to be dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.

Cassie is getting trashed by a witness in the Diddy criminal trial ... all while Cassie is in the hospital because of her pregnancy.

Capricorn Clark, a former Diddy employee, is being cross-examined by Diddy defense attorney Marc Agnifilo ... and she's telling the jury how their relationship changed over time.

Clark previously said she used to manage Cassie, and Agnifilo asked her why they sometimes did not get along. Clark said in 2008, Cassie went from being a sweet model to a feisty girlfriend, getting more "bravado" as her relationship with Diddy progressed.

Fred Kerley is hellbent on clearing his name after being arrested for allegedly hitting his ex-girlfriend ... claiming the narrative she gave police was anything but truth -- and he's preparing to file a lawsuit over the matter.

The Olympic sprinter was booked on May 1 -- after fellow track athlete Alaysha Johnson told cops he hit her once in the "facial area" and caused her nose to bleed while at a Miami hotel.

Kerley addressed the whole ordeal in a statement on social media at the time ... insisting he was only booked because he refused to talk to law enforcement without his attorney present.

Suge Knight says he talked to Capricorn Clark after Diddy allegedly threatened to kill her over her ties to Death Row Records ... and he tells us Capricorn absolutely thought Diddy would follow through.

The former Death Row Records owner joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and we asked him about some of Clark's explosive testimony in the Diddy criminal trial.

Clark -- who worked for Diddy as an assistant and in other roles -- told the jury Diddy took her to Central Park on her first day of work and threatened to kill her because she used to work for his rival, Suge.

The "Crypto King of Kentucky" suspected of torturing a man for weeks inside a lavish multimillion-dollar townhouse hosted extravagant parties there ... and it seems he didn't raise any red flags when landing the swanky SoHo rental, TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... John Woeltz and William Duplessie are currently in custody for allegedly torturing Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan to get access to his crypto fortune ... until the Italian citizen finally made his escape and told police everything.

Multiple sources with knowledge tell TMZ … Woeltz started living in the Manhattan townhouse on March 17 … with a rent amount of $75K - $90K a month.

The moment a Bitcoin trader finally escaped his alleged crypto hellscape was caught on surveillance -- and the footage is just as dramatic as it sounds.

In video obtained by NBC New York, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan can be seen in a casual top and shorts, sprinting barefoot up to an NYPD traffic cop Friday afternoon … clearly distressed, clearly desperate, and looking like he just lived through a straight-up nightmare.

Cops say Carturan was allegedly held captive for nearly 3 weeks inside a SoHo townhouse by two ex-business partners, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, who allegedly shocked him with wires, pistol-whipped him, dangled him over a ledge, and even allegedly urinated on him -- all while trying to force him to cough up the password to his crypto fortune.

Former NBA star Shawn Kemp just reached a plea deal with prosecutors to close out his parking lot shooting case, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

A rep for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office tells us ... Kemp appeared in court on Tuesday morning and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault in the second degree.

Kemp, of course, had been facing one count of assault in the first degree in the case ... after law enforcement claimed he fired a gun during a March 2023 dispute in a Tacoma, Wash. shopping mall parking lot.

Capricorn Clark, a former Diddy employee, continued her testimony in the disgraced rap mogul's federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial Tuesday, revealing more details about Diddy's discovery of the relationship between Cassie and Kid Cudi ... including a menacing threat.

Clark said Cassie would sometimes stay with her at her apartment in L.A., and she said Cassie once brought Kid Cudi there. She described a text about Cudi she says she got from Cassie, and she told Cassie to delete the text because Diddy was paying for both their phones. She said she took Cassie to get a "burner" phone.

Clark testified early on the morning of December 22, 2011, Diddy was outside banging on her front door ... she says she opened the door to find him holding a gun, and asking her, "Why didn't you tell me? Who is Scott?" Kid Cudi's legal name is Scott Mescudi. She said she didn't know anyone named Scott.

Mary Lou Retton was charged with DUI earlier this month, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Court records show the Olympic gold medalist was hit with the misdemeanor count in Marion County, West Virginia, following a May 17 arrest.

According to court documents we obtained, Mary Lou was initially stopped by cops after she had allegedly been driving her grey Porche "all over the roadway."

The case of the crypto tycoon allegedly tortured in an NYC townhouse is heating up … because a second suspect just surrendered to the authorities for his purported role in the bizarre incident.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... William Duplessie -- a businessman from Switzerland -- turned himself in Tuesday to the NYPD Major Crimes Unit, as seen in NBC News video above.

Our sources say Duplessie is the second person arrested in connection with the alleged abduction and torture of Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan inside a SoHo townhouse over several weeks.

Diddy’s legal team is gunning to blow up a major moment from Kid Cudi’s testimony -- asking the judge to strike everything about the disgraced rapper’s Porsche firebombing … claiming it’s all based on suspicion, not proof.

TMZ has obtained the legal docs filed in Diddy’s criminal case -- where his lawyers argue Cudi’s claims about Diddy’s alleged involvement in his 2012 car explosion are nothing but opinion and shouldn’t be allowed in court. In short ... they’re saying Cudi thinks Diddy did it, but there’s no hard evidence, no confession, no receipts.

As we reported, KC told the court last week he 'knew' Diddy had something to do with the Molotov cocktail attack on his Porsche after ending things with Cassie -- but admitted there were no witnesses, fingerprints, or proof linking Diddy to the arson.

The man suspected of kidnapping and torturing an Italian man over a crypto dispute suffered his own indignity when he was arrested -- his bathrobe came undone.

Photographer and street vendor Ciaran Tully was minding his own business Friday when John Woeltz was removed from his fancy NYC apartment wearing only a robe.

As he was escorted down the stairs, Tully says his robe came undone, so cops spared him the embarrassment and bundled him back up.

Andrew Zimmern has a strong opinion on some juicy testimony from the Diddy trial ... namely, a revelation that Diddy likes to put apple sauce on his cheeseburgers.

We got the celeb chef at LAX and our photog asked him about Diddy's unique burger topping.

Andrew says it's an example of learning the most interesting things in the most horrible situations ... and while he doesn't want to make light of any of the serious allegations regarding Cassie, he's calling "yuck" on Diddy's "yum."