One of the four men who prosecutors say flew from Florida to Portland in 2023 to kidnap a local man and steal his cryptocurrency, ultimately binding the man naked to a post in a rural Washington County field, pleaded guilty Friday.
Billy Shane Cordova, 26, of Jacksonville, Florida, entered the guilty plea to one count of kidnapping before U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You in federal court in Portland. A related conspiracy to commit kidnapping charge is expected to be dismissed.
Cordova is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13.
The prosecutor and his defense attorney said they will jointly recommend a prison term of between six-and-a-half years and seven years-and-three-months, with the final sentence depending on a court assessment of his criminal history.
The Florida men flew on a commercial flight to Portland and then rented cars using the car-sharing application Turo. They conducted surveillance on the Portland man’s apartment and waited for the “right opportunity” to kidnap him, according to a plea agreement.
On Nov. 10, 2023, the men abducted the Portland resident from a local apartment, forced him from one car into another and drove him away while others entered the man’s apartment to try to access his cryptocurrency.
Cordova and the other alleged abductors drove the man to a rural field in Banks, stripped him of his clothes, tied him to a post with duct tape and repeatedly and brutally assaulted him before abandoning him, according to the indictment and police records.
The victim suffered serious physical injuries, including several broken bones and a collapsed lung, according to prosecutors.
Later that day, the accused used the victim’s password - known as a “seed phrase” – to transfer digital currency from his cryptocurrency wallet to another account, the indictment says.
They stole about $128,000 worth of cryptocurrency, according to the government.
Cordova admitted to kidnapping the Portland man for ransom and to traveling across state lines to commit the crime.
“I plead guilty,” he told the judge.
A passerby discovered the 22-year-old victim duct-taped to a post and called police at 8:33 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2023, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman reported that the man appeared to have been subjected to “torture” near Northwest Mountaindale Road and Old Pumpkin Ridge Road in Banks.
The four defendants were initially arrested in Florida in late September 2024, appeared in federal court in Jacksonville and were transferred to face the federal charges in Portland.
Cordova has unrelated, pending charges in Florida from 2023, accused of displaying a firearm during a felony, possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
Co-defendant Jackson Suha Reves, 21, pleaded guilty to a single kidnapping count last week. Both men are being held at the federal prison in Sheridan.
Two other co-defendants, Ralph Moreno Jr., 26, and Justice Uallah Del Carpio, 22, have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
