One man has pleaded guilty to charges related to the kidnapping of Ontario’s self-proclaimed "Crypto King," Aiden Pleterski, in December 2022.
Deren Akyeam-Pong, 26, has pleaded guilty to nine charges including kidnapping, assault and various gun charges in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto.
The details of his guilty plea, included in an agreed statement of facts, are subject to a temporary publication ban.
The trial for two other men accused in the kidnapping was set to begin Tuesday, with jury selection. But following Akyeam-Pong’s guilty plea, lawyers for the other accused requested an adjournment, which Justice Gillian Roberts granted.
A new trial date has yet to be scheduled.
One of the two men set to stand trial, Akil Heywood, was an investor who lost hundreds of thousands of do