A Chesapeake man has pleaded guilty to a heinous crime that will leave animal lovers reeling. Michael Macartney, 51, of Chesapeake, Virginia, has admitted to conspiring to create and distribute animal crushing videos, a type of sadistic animal torture pornography.
According to court documents, Macartney and his co-conspirators used a private online chat group and encrypted messaging platform to fund, view, distribute, and promote videos depicting the torture, murder, and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals, specifically juvenile and adult monkeys.
Macartney received over $300,000 in electronic payments from co-conspirators for promoting, creating, obtaining, receiving, and distributing the torture videos. In one chilling example, Macartney raised additional funds for a bonus payment to a videographer who, at the request of the co-conspirators, created a video of a juvenile monkey being tortured with a jar of ants, leading to the monkey’s death.
In March 2022, Macartney agreed to sell copies of his animal crush videos to a co-conspirator for $100. The co-conspirator sent Macartney $75 electronically and Macartney sent the co-conspirator website links where his videos were stored. Macartney claimed there were just under 2,300 videos, with at least 500 depicting animal crushing.
Macartney is scheduled to be sentenced on September 4, 2024, and faces a maximum of five years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Yusi is prosecuting the case.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime|Cybercrime|Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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