CORAL GABLES, Fla. — A 36-year-old Coral Gables man was awaiting sentencing in a federal animal cruelty case that included videos showing the sexual torture of baby monkeys, records show.

Homeland Security Investigations special agents caught Francisco Ravelo, a Telegram user known as “Tony [Expletive] Montana,” for violations of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act.

After Ravelo pleaded guilty to a violation of the act’s animal crushing statute on Monday in Miami, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson praised Trump for signing the bill into law in 2019.

“If you are involved in this sadistic activity, we will prosecute you,” Gustafson said in a statement about Ravelo’s case.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida described Ravelo’s case as deeply disturbing.

“Deliberate cruelty to animals is one of the clearest red flags. It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse. The defendant didn’t merely view this material. He created and administered online groups devoted to it and distributed dozens of obscene animal torture videos,” Reding Quiñones said in a statement.

In the videos, animals were “purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury,” according to federal prosecutors, records show.

“Our team worked diligently to ensure Ravelo was held accountable for his egregious crimes and to prevent further harm,” HSI Special Agent in Charge Matt Wright said in a statement.

Earlier this week, The Miami Herald described Ravelo as a “former Air Force contractor” who had “obtained a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Miami.”

Ravelo was out on a $100,000 bond. His sentencing is on May 21. He faced a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

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