'Deeply disturbing' animal cruelty operation involving baby monkeys busted by ICE investigation

By Fox News · Fox News

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation in Florida busted a "deeply disturbing" illegal animal cruelty operation involving baby monkeys by U.S. citizen Francisco Javier Ravelo. According to the Justice Department, Ravelo, 36, pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing videos depicting the torture of both adult and baby monkeys that involved mutilation and burning. The DOJ said Ravelo personally distributed more than 40 torture videos and that his actions violated the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump during his first term. Ravelo now faces up to seven years in prison. The DOJ said the animal cruelty scheme was exposed by an investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is the primary criminal investigations arm of the Department of Homeland Security . ORGANIZED AND TECHNOLOGICAL: ICE RESISTANCE GROUPS POSING GROWING DANGER, WARNS FORMER TOP NSA, DHS OFFICIAL Jason Reding Quiñones, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, called the case "deeply disturbing" and evidenced a willingness on the part of Ravelo to "inflict suffering without remorse." "As a former state court trial judge who presided over domestic violence cases, I was trained to recognize lethality factors, warning signs that violence is escalating. Deliberate cruelty to animals is one of the clearest red flags," he said. "It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse." Quiñones condemned Ravelo’s actions in no uncertain terms, calling it a "serious federal crime" that he said "fuels a market built on brutality." Adam Gustafson, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, commented that "if you are involved in this sadistic activity, we will prosecute you." Meanwhile, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said that while Ravelo "didn’t count on HSI being able to track him do…