Overview
- Francisco Javier Ravelo, 36, admitted in Miami federal court on March 2 to distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys under the federal Animal Crushing statute.
- Court documents say he created and administered private Telegram groups devoted to such material and personally shared more than 40 videos between September 2024 and February 2025.
- Ravelo faces a statutory maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
- He remains free on a $100,000 bond with court-ordered limits on social media use, and sentencing is set for May 21 before U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz.
- Filings indicate he used the screen name "Tony F**king Montana" on Telegram and obtained some videos from an Ohio man who was separately charged in 2024; HSI investigated and DOJ ENRD and the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Florida are prosecuting.