Telegram planning and payments to people in Indonesia
According to court documents, the defendants and their co-conspirators used the messaging application Telegram to discuss and plan videos depicting acts of animal abuse. Members of the online groups then sent money through online payment applications to people in Indonesia who were willing to carry out the requested acts and record them.
The Justice Department said Friday that four people had pleaded guilty to participating in an online conspiracy to produce and distribute videos depicting the torture and sexual abuse of monkeys. Ernest Chavez, of Arizona, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to create and distribute so-called animal crush videos.
Three other defendants previously pleaded guilty in connection with the same conspiracy. Mary Longoria, of North Carolina, pleaded guilty July 16; Kimberly Anglin, of Connecticut, entered her plea Aug. 12; and Patrick Naylor, also of North Carolina, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14.
The four were among 11 people indicted in 2025 for their involvement in online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos of monkeys being tortured.
Nicholas Dryden, of Cincinnati, Ohio, supplied videos to the groups and was previously sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy.
Longoria and Anglin are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2, while Naylor is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 17.