A Mt. Pleasant man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to paying people overseas to torture monkeys and record the acts on video.
Joseph Garrett Buckland, 44, was charged with conspiracy to create and distribute animal crush videos in February. The videos, which are illegal to sell or exchange, involve the intentional crushing or torture of animals.
“Intentionally inflicting harm and torture on innocent animals not only feeds a broader market of criminal depravity, it also often is linked to, or leads to, additional dangerous and violent conduct that further erodes society and public safety,” said Pittsburgh-based U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti in a statement.
Buckland will be sentenced on the single count by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan on Oct. 29.
Investigators said Buckland belonged to a group online that watched, discussed and distributed videos of monkeys being abused.
The group, which pooled money to commission the videos, then sent instructions to a videographer in Indonesia to make the videos, according to court documents.
Buckland participated from March 2023 until May 2025, along with three co-conspirators from outside of Pennsylvania.
Investigators said Buckland sent 10 payments of $90 to $100 through CashApp or PayPal to commission the videos, which were then sent to him electronically.
In addition to commissioning the work, federal prosecutors said that Buckland distributed a video depicting violent torture of a monkey that was more than an hour long, on an online messaging app.