Tennessee Woman Sentenced to 40 Months for Role in Monkey Torture Video Conspiracy
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – A Tennessee woman was sentenced Thursday to 40 months in federal prison for her role in an international conspiracy to create and distribute graphic videos depicting the torture and mutilation of monkeys, the Justice Department announced.
Katrina Favret, of Greeneville, pleaded guilty on Nov. 7, 2025, to one count of conspiring to create and distribute animal crush videos and one count of creating such videos. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves sentenced Favret to three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Favret used encrypted chat applications to funnel money to individuals in Indonesia who produced videos showing sadistic violence against baby and adult monkeys. Prosecutors said Favret would send detailed instructions describing the specific acts of torture she wanted to see, then distributed the resulting videos to other members of the online group.
A statement of facts signed by Favret confirmed that the videos depicted extreme violence and mutilation that had been specifically requested by the defendant and her co-conspirators. The case marks one of the first federal prosecutions under animal crush video statutes targeting organized online networks commissioning such content from abroad.
“These videos depict unspeakable cruelty, and the defendant not only funded their creation but directed the specific acts of violence,” Gustafson said in a statement.
Animal crush videos, which depict the torture and killing of animals for sexual gratification or other deviant purposes, have been illegal under federal law since 2010. The statute was strengthened in 2019 to explicitly prohibit the creation, distribution, and funding of such content.
Ford, Ringwood Borough Agree to Final $3.4 Million Cleanup of Groundwater at Superfund Site
NEWARK, N.J. – Ford Motor Company and the Borough of Ringwood, New Jersey, have agreed to perform the final phase of environmental cleanup at the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund Site, addressing contaminated groundwater that poses potential risks to future drinking water supplies, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Under a proposed consent decree filed in U.S. District Court, Ford and Ringwood will carry out the final cleanup stage, known as Operable Unit 3, at the approximately 500-acre site in Passaic County. The work, estimated to cost $3.4 million, targets groundwater and mine water contaminated with benzene, 1,4-dioxane, and lead from historic disposal of paint sludge and other industrial waste.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said the agreement brings to a close more than four decades of investigation and remedial work at the site.
The Ringwood Mines/Landfill site, located in a historic iron mining district, includes forested land, abandoned mine pits, a closed municipal landfill, state parkland, and areas used for utilities and municipal purposes. Several brooks drain the site and flow to the Wanaque Reservoir, which provides drinking water for more than two million New Jersey residents.
From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, portions of the site were used to dispose of waste materials, including paint sludge and industrial waste generated at Ford’s automobile assembly plant in Mahwah, New Jersey. Investigations found that these materials contributed to contamination in soil, groundwater, surface water, and mine shafts.
The site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1983, removed in 1994 after initial cleanup actions, and restored to the list in 2006 following discovery of additional contamination. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency divided the site into multiple cleanup areas, known as operable units.
Cleanup work under Operable Unit 2, which addresses contaminated soil, waste, and fill material in former mine and disposal areas, is nearing completion under a 2020 consent decree.
The new agreement addresses Operable Unit 3, focusing on groundwater contamination. According to the Justice Department, the groundwater is not currently used for drinking, but could serve as a future water source for nearby communities. The cleanup is designed to address health risks that would arise if the contaminated water were used.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Administrator of the New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund joined the United States as co-plaintiffs in the agreement.
The proposed consent decree was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. It can be viewed on the Justice Department’s website at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
