PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania man was sentenced this week for conspiring to create and distribute “sadistic” videos of abuse on monkeys.
The Department of Justice says Robert Berndt, of Philadelphia, was sentenced on Tuesday to 38 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Berndt pleaded guilty in May to conspiring with others to create and distribute so-called “animal crush videos” that the Department of Justice says depicted “acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against animals.”
Berndt and his alleged co-conspirators were said to have used encrypted chat applications to direct money to individuals in Indonesia willing to commit the requested acts of torture on camera.
The Justice Department said in May that these videos included animals being burned, cut, and sexually abused, among other things.
A grand jury had previously indicted 11 people for allegedly participating in the abuse ring.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the FBI investigated the case.