Mike Macartney, 50, a.k.a. “The Torture King,” entered a guilty plea in the US state of Virginia for conspiring to produce and disseminate images of animals being crushed.
After a year-long investigation into horrific monkey torture organizations, the Eye team uncovered three major distributors, including Macartney.
The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service launched a statewide criminal investigation in the US as a result of the reporting.
Based on the encrypted information, Macartney, a former member of a motorcycle gang who had served time in jail, oversaw several of the most well-known torture organizations.
Telegram groups were a common tool used by sadists worldwide to exchange ideas for certain torture techniques. These requests were then forwarded to Indonesian video producers, who used young long-tailed macaques to conduct the experiments in exchange for cash.
Despite raising money and distributing videos, Macartney was able to demonstrate that he had never given money to an Indonesian filmmaker directly.
Macartney avoided a maximum seven-year term by opting to enter a guilty plea to conspiracy and provide full cooperation to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversaw the unprecedented investigation.
During the Tuesday sentencing hearing, the judge informed the court that the lack of prior experience in this type of case meant it was challenging to determine a suitable penalty.
