One of the ringleaders of a
global monkey torture network exposed by the BBC has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison.
Mike Macartney, 50, who used the alias ‘The Torture King’, pleaded guilty in the US state of Virginia to conspiracy to create and distribute animal crushing videos.
Macartney was one of three key distributors identified by the BBC Eye team in a year-long investigation into sadistic monkey torture groups.
The BBC’s reporting led to a nationwide criminal investigation in the US by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
A former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison, Macartney ran several of the most high-profile torture groups, based on the encrypted message app Telegram.
Sadists around the world used Telegram groups to share ideas for specific methods of torture. Those requests were then sent, along with payments, to video makers in Indonesia, who carried them out on baby long-tailed macaques.
Though Macartney collected funds and distributed videos, he was able to show that he had never sent money directly to an Indonesian video maker.
By choosing to plead guilty to conspiracy and co-operate fully with the Department of Homeland Security, which took charge of the unusual investigation, Macartney was able to avoid a possible maximum seven-year sentence.
At the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, the judge told the court it had been difficult to come up with an appropriate sentence because the justice system had never seen a similar case before, but that he merited a reduction from the guidelines because of his cooperation.
www.bbc.com
