'Deeply disturbing': Florida man enters plea in monkey torture video case



A Florida man entered a plea at the beginning of the month following a particularly disturbing case involving monkeys investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Francisco Javier Ravelo, 36, of Coral Gables, Florida, pleaded guilty on March 2 to distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys. Ravelo was charged in October 2025.

'It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse.'

The Department of Justice's press release, citing court documents, explains that Ravelo, a U.S. citizen, "created some and administered some online chat groups dedicated to the distribution and discussion of sexual and violent videos depicting monkeys being mutilated and burned, including baby and adult monkeys."

The DOJ said Ravelo personally distributed "more than 40 of these obscene crush videos."

RELATED: 'Staged armed robberies': 11 Indian nationals catch visa fraud charge amid conspiracy allegations

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. law defines "animal crushing" as "actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury."

"In his first term, President Donald J. Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law to end animal crushing," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "If you are involved in this sadistic activity, we will prosecute you."

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said: "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. That conduct fuels a market built on brutality."

HSI New Orleans, HSI Pensacola, the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division investigated the case that led to Ravelo's guilty plea, according to an ICE press release.

Ravelo faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

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'Staged armed robberies': 11 Indian nationals catch visa fraud charge amid conspiracy allegations



In a years-long case, more suspects are being charged in connection with an alleged visa fraud conspiracy ring.

On Friday, the Department of Justice charged 11 individuals in connection with "a conspiracy to carry out staged armed robberies of convenience stores for the purpose of allowing store clerks to falsely claim they were crime victims on immigration applications."

The DOJ claimed the purpose of the scheme was to allow the 'victims' of the 'robbery' to falsely claim they were victims of a violent crime on an application for a U visa.

Ten of the 11 suspects, all of whom are Indian nationals, were arrested in states where they were "unlawfully residing," including Massachusetts, Missouri, Kentucky, and Ohio, according to the DOJ's press release.

"An 11th Indian nat'l who was deported to India has also been charged," the Boston FBI announced on social media. The 11th Indian national was deported after "unlawfully residing" in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

According to the DOJ's press release, the scheme involved staging armed robberies in which the "robber" would threaten store clerks with an apparent firearm, take cash from the register, and flee. The clerk would then wait five minutes or more before calling police to report the incident.

The store owners were compensated by Rambhai Patel, sentenced in August for his role in the scheme, and his alleged co-conspirators, while the "victims" allegedly paid Patel to participate in the scheme.

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FBI Boston

The fraud scheme appears to have begun in March 2023. Those charged on Friday are alleged to have "either arranged with the organizer to set up each robbery or paid for themselves or a family member to participate as a 'victim.'"

According to an August 2025 sentencing announcement from the DOJ, Patel and Balwinder Singh, who was also charged in December 2023, organized "at least 18" staged armed robberies.

Singh pleaded guilty and was set to be sentenced in September 2025.

Citing charging documents, the DOJ claimed the purpose of the scheme was to allow the "victims" of the "robbery" to falsely claim they were victims of a violent crime on an application for a U visa.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U nonimmigrant status visa is "set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity."

Jitendrakumar Patel; Maheshkumar Patel; Sanjaykumar Patel; Amitabahen Patel; Sangitaben Patel; Mitul Patel; Rameshbhai Patel; Ronakkumar Patel; Sonal Patel; Minkesh Patel; and Dipikaben Patel all face one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

The charge of conspiracy to commit visa fraud carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

Those charged on Friday were released after initial appearances and will appear in federal court in Boston "at a later date," the DOJ said.

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'Massive scheme': Federal visa fraud indictment in Dallas intensifies pressure on Abbott over H-1B visas



As more people begin to investigate potential fraud in the legal immigration system in the United States, many major cases of alleged fraud are finally getting the attention they deserve.

The Dallas Express reported Tuesday on an ongoing case started in May 2025 involving "two Texas residents ... originally from Pakistan, a law firm, and a business entity" who are "charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) conspiracy."

'These advertisements were placed in order to satisfy a Department of Labor requirement to offer the position to United States citizens before hiring foreign nationals.'

According to a Department of Justice press release, Abdul Hadi Murshid, Muhammad Salman Nasir, the Law Offices of D. Robert Jones PLLC, and Reliable Ventures Inc. "engaged in a scheme to commit visa fraud to enrich themselves and others, and to cause individuals to fraudulently obtain entry into and immigration status in the United States."

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Photographer: Desiree Rios/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Murshid and Nasir are also charged with unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain United States citizenship, according to the DOJ.

The scheme allegedly involved exploiting the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programs, including placing advertisements in a daily periodical for nonexistent jobs. The DOJ explains, "These advertisements were placed in order to satisfy a Department of Labor requirement to offer the position to United States citizens before hiring foreign nationals."

“These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain,” Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham said. “Pursuing criminal charges to deter and punish this type of flagrant disregard for the lawful immigration process is a top priority of this Office.”///

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quoted the Dallas Express' report, saying, "Finally, the feds are cracking down on their H-1B visa fraud in Dallas. H-1B visas are issued only by the federal government. That said, I was the first Governor to halt any state entity from applying for H-1B visa workers. More to come on this."

However, many comments pointed out the governor's past openness to legal immigration as his state continues to fill with H-1B and other visa holders.

"You haven’t done this so you’re still contributing to the displacement of highly skilled Texas workers," Virgil Bierschwale, a candidate for the Senate Texas seat, wrote, including a graphic that encourages prioritizing hiring Texans in state contracts.

"Texas leads the nation with H-1B visas thanks to you," former congressional candidate Valentina Gomez snapped at Abbott.

Texas has closely followed California in the number of approved H-1B visas in recent years. In 2025 alone, Texas brought in over 83,200 H-1B visas, while California crossed the 100,000 threshold, according to an analysis of Department of Labor data performed by Blaze News.

The Dallas Express reported that while it is unclear when the case will head to trial, the final pretrial conference is set for September 4, 2026.

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J6 committee's anti-Trump storyteller referred to DOJ for criminal charges: Report



The Jan. 6 Select Committee's various improprieties and its prioritization of narrative over facts have been exposed. Nevertheless, key participants in the Democrat-led lawfare campaign have so far managed to evade consequence. That might soon change.

House Republicans have reportedly referred Jan. 6 committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson to the Department of Justice for criminal charges.

The USSS agents ... directly refuted the fundamentals of her story.

A pair of sources reportedly familiar with recent developments told CNN that Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Ga.), the chairman of the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, recently made the referral, which was co-signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

The referral reportedly accuses Hutchinson — who milked her time in the limelight for a book deal — of lying to Congress in her public testimony in June 2022.

This is undoubtedly good news for President Donald Trump, who claimed Hutchinson "made up" stories about him during her testimony.

"Our great Secret Service has totally CRUSHED Cassidy Hutchinson’s (who I barely knew) made up (FAKE!) stories about me roughing up Secret Service Agents from the back seat of the Beast (Limo)," Trump noted in March 2024. "Has she now changed her testimony? Will she be prosecuted for what she did and said?"

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Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Blaze News has reached out to the Department of Justice and Loudermilk's office for comment. CNN indicated that Hutchinson's current and former lawyers did not respond to multiple inquiries.

Loudermilk released a congressional report in March 2024 alleging that the Jan. 6 Select Committee — manned by outspoken critics of President Donald Trump — erased records; hid numerous transcribed interviews; failed to turn recordings over to GOP lawmakers; and suppressed evidence that failed to conform to Democrats' preferred narrative.

The report, penned by the House Administration Committee's oversight subpanel, also impeached Hutchinson's character and testimony.

Hutchinson, who served as assistant to Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, sat for six transcribed interviews and one publicized hearing with the committee.

The report noted that on June 20, 2022, in her fourth transcribed interview with the Jan. 6 committee, Hutchinson told a previously unheard tale about how on January 6, 2021, Trump allegedly got into a scuffle with a Secret Service agent and attempted to wrest control of the presidential limousine after his speech at the Ellipse.

Hutchinson's allegations pertained to supposed incidents to which she was not an eyewitness.

The Jan. 6 committee didn't bother interviewing either of the two Secret Service agents referenced in Hutchinson's testimony who were actually present at the time of the alleged events or anyone else implicated prior to her testimony.

When the committee put questions to the USSS agents some four months after Hutchinson's testimony, they directly refuted the fundamentals of her story.

In December 2024, Loudermilk released another damning congressional report, this time alleging that:

  • former White House employee Alyssa Farah Griffin back-channeled with former Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, to help Hutchinson change her story;
  • Hutchinson had secret conversations with Cheney without her attorney's knowledge; and
  • "Hutchinson committed perjury when she lied under oath to the Select Committee."
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Bondi hails ‘huge’ win in Chicago after federal judge placed restrictions on ICE agents



President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security scored a significant legal win on Thursday regarding its immigration enforcement surge.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched Operation Midway Blitz in September, intending to target criminal illegal aliens hiding behind sanctuary policies in Chicago, Illinois.

'President Trump is trying to protect American citizens while local elected officials REFUSE to do so.'

The following month, organizations representing journalists and residents filed a complaint against the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of responding to the protesters "with a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians."

The plaintiffs claimed that federal agents had "injured and sickened" civilians and the press through the use of force and tear gas.

"The officers are not physically threatened," the complaint read.

The lawsuit requested that the court prevent federal agents from continuing to use alleged "unconstitutional tactics."

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Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

In November, a federal judge in Chicago issued a broad injunction in response to the complaint, placing restrictions on the use of force.

"The use of force shocks the conscience," U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis stated.

The Department of Homeland Security appealed the federal judge's ruling, calling the injunction "an extreme act by an activist judge that risks the lives and livelihoods of law enforcement officers."

On Thursday, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to lift the injunction, claiming that the lower court had "granted an overbroad, constitutionally suspect injunction."

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the appeals court's decision "a huge legal win" for Trump.

"President Trump is trying to protect American citizens while local elected officials REFUSE to do so. @thejusticedept attorneys were proud to argue this case. We will continue fighting and WINNING for the President's law-and-order agenda," Bondi wrote in a post on X.

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Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

The plaintiffs previously requested that Ellis dismiss the case after the operation had wound down. The judge granted that motion in January.

The appeals court was critical of Ellis' decision to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, stating that "any class members or the lead plaintiffs could refile these claims tomorrow."

"They could ask the district court to reinstate a near-identical preliminary injunction, adopting the facts and legal reasoning from the district court's order," the majority wrote, adding that they could "help avoid that pitfall by vacating the order that depends on these conclusions."

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Illegal alien allegedly voted in 2024 federal election, when Trump and Kamala were on the ballot



An illegal alien residing in Philadelphia has been charged with unlawfully voting in the 2024 general election, when Republican candidate Donald Trump was running against then-Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Department of Justice announced on Thursday the criminal charges and the arrest of Mahady Sacko, 50.

'Illegal aliens ARE registering to vote in Pennsylvania.'

Sacko, who entered the U.S. in 1998, was previously ordered deported in 2000 but remained in the United States.

He allegedly falsely represented himself as a U.S. citizen to register to vote and cast a ballot in federal elections, after initially registering in January 2005.

Sacko also voted in in federal elections in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020, according the criminal complaint shared by Fox News Digital.

Voting records indicated that Sacko registered as a Democrat, the Philadelphia Inquirer stated.

Sacko, who is from Mauritania, now faces up to five years in prison for his alleged crimes.

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Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Sacko in 2007. ICE attempted to deport him, but his Mauritanian passport had expired, and the agency could not obtain one for him. Unable to return Sacko to his home country, he was released from ICE custody and ordered to check in with the agency.

“Sacko voted in person for each of these elections, except for the 2020 primary election, in which he voted by mail. On each occasion, Sacko falsely represented that he was a U.S. citizen,” an FBI special agent wrote in the criminal complaint.

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Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images

Conservative activist Scott Presler reacted to the news of Sacko’s arrest.

“The DOJ just indicted an illegal alien for voting in the 2024 election in Pennsylvania,” Presler wrote in a post on social media. “I went a step further & discovered that he’s registered as a democrat in Philadelphia. We have proof. Illegal aliens ARE registering to vote in Pennsylvania.”

“We are getting the data for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania voter rolls before the Department of State does a massive purge,” Presler wrote in a subsequent post. “Now, we know what to look for!”

Sacko’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

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