Overview
- Amanda Leigh Fourez pleaded guilty to conspiracy and distribution after paying thousands to commission sexualized videos that tortured adult and baby monkeys.
- Investigators said the videos showed monkeys burned alive and their genitals mutilated, and Fourez archived and controlled the files for online sharing.
- ICE Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans and the FBI led the probe, and the Justice Department is prosecuting the case in federal court.
- Fourez faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy, up to seven years for distribution, and fines up to $500,000, with a judge to decide the sentence.
- Other members of the same online networks have also pleaded guilty, including Joseph Garrett Buckland of Pennsylvania, as agents keep investigating private chat and payment groups under statutes expanded in 2019 from a 2010 ban on such videos.