Houston Woman Convicted Of Producing And Distributing Animal Crush Videos

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Ashley Nicole Richards 24, of Houston, Texas, has been convicted of creating and distributing videos depicting the torture and killing of puppies, chickens and kittens, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson for the Southern District of Texas.  Richards entered a guilty plea today, admitting she produced and distributed what is referred to as “animal crush videos.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) defines the “crush” fetish as a cruel and illegal genre of pornography in which women are videotaped or photographed mutilating small animals for the sexual gratification of viewers.  In crush fetish materials, women are depicted, usually barefoot or in high heels, stepping on (or crushing), torturing and killing different species of animals, ranging from crawfish, crabs and insects to rodents, rabbits, kittens, puppies, cats, dogs and other mammals.

Under federal law it is illegal to depict - via photograph, motion-picture film, video, digital recording or electronic image - actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury, and is obscene.

This is the first known case to be indicted in federal court since the statute was amended in 2010.

Richards has admitted to creating and distributing videos that involve puppies, chickens and kittens being tortured and killed.  The videos are titled “puppy1,” “puppy 2,” “whitechick1,” “whitechick2,” “whitechick3,” “blackluvsample,” “adammeetseve” and “adammeetseve2” and were created at varying times between February 2010 and August 2012.  In the “puppy2” video, which is more than 13 minutes in length, Richards is seen torturing and killing a blue Pit Bull-mix puppy in a kitchen.  The defenseless dog’s mouth is closed with duct tape and he struggles as Richards strikes the dog numerous times with a meat cleaver.  In the video, Richards chops off one of the puppy’s paws, then hacks at his head and neck.  Richards is later seen severing the dog’s head and urinating on its body.  In another video, described in court today, Richards steps on a cat’s eye with heel of her shoe.

Previous court records also indicated that during the videos, Richards is often scantily clad and wearing a Mardi Gras-type mask.  As she tortured the animals, she engaged in sexually charged dialogue meant to arouse the viewer.

Authorities were alerted to the videos following an inquiry from PETA.

Richards was originally arrested on state charges on Aug. 15, 2012.  A federal grand jury returned an indictment Nov. 28, 2012, and she was transferred to federal custody.  However, the crush video charges were later dismissed on what the court cited as constitutionality issues.  The government appealed that decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans which subsequently overturned the decision of the District Court.  The defense then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the 5th Circuit’s ruling.  The Supreme Court denied that petition and remanded the case back to the District Court for prosecution.

Today, Richards pleaded guilty to all five counts as charged, four counts of producing and one count of distribution of the animal crush videos which were obscene in nature.  U.S. District Judge Sim Lake accepted the guilty pleas and has set sentencing for December 10.  At that time, Richards faces up to seven years in federal prison on each count of conviction as well as possible $250,000 fine.

Richards also pleaded guilty to three charges in state court stemming from the same conduct and was sentenced to ten years in prison.         

The Houston Police Department originally investigated the matter and worked in conjunction with the Houston Office of the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack is prosecuting the case, while trial attorney John Pellettieri of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division handled the appeal. 

Organized Retail Theft: Major Middle Eastern Crime Ring Dismantled By FBI

The FBI's web site offered the below piece:

When it comes to shoplifting, this was a serious and sophisticated operation.

It involved members of a criminal group waltzing into major U.S. retail stores and pharmacies and brazenly walking out with stolen products of all kinds, from medicine and baby formula to health and beauty supplies. Those products were then repackaged and sold at rock bottom prices to various wholesalers, who in some cases sold them right back to the companies they had been stolen from.

The criminal bottom line: an estimated $10 million worth of products were swiped every year from 2008 to 2012. To make matters worse, many of the goods—some possibly compromised by being stored and shipped under improper conditions and some sold past their expiration dates—eventually ended up in the hands of an unsuspecting public.

It all came to an end thanks to a multi-agency investigation by the FBI, the Houston Police Department, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of victim merchants. Earlier this month, one of the highest-ranking and most prolific fences in this Middle Eastern crime ring was convicted in federal court. Charges against other group members are pending.

Sameh Khaled Danhach, a native of Lebanon and a legal permanent resident of the U.S., headed up SKD Trading, Inc. and Lifetime Wholesale, Inc., both shell companies located in Houston that allowed Danhach and his conspirators to carry out their illegal activities.

The scheme. Danhach and others recruited “boosters”—individuals who lifted the merchandise from pharmacies and retailers—from among undocumented Mexican, Central, and South American aliens in the United States. Booster crews traveled around Texas and other states and hit various businesses, often in cars rented by Danhach or his associates. For their efforts, they’d receive a small percentage of the actual value of the stolen property, always in cash so there’d be no paper trail.

The boosters then shipped the merchandise back to Danhach’s Houston warehouse using phony accounts with bogus business names, e-mail addresses, and credit cards set up by Danhach and others. These shipping companies were also victimized—they rarely, if ever, got paid.

The boosters shipped the stolen goods in case they were ever pulled over by law enforcement during routine traffic stops while they were driving back to Texas (that happened once, and Danhach wanted to make sure it never happened again).

Once the stolen merchandise was in Danhach’s possession, he would have his people remove anti-theft devices and store stickers, and then he would once again—using phony business accounts—ship the goods to various wholesalers, who would put the stolen goods back into circulation.

In March 2012, a search warrant for Danhach’s Houston warehouse turned up many interesting items: among them, more than $300,000 worth of stolen over-the-counter medications, shampoos, and baby formula, along with financial ledgers showing that from August 2011 to January 2012 alone, Danhach paid $1.8 million for stolen merchandise and sold it for $2.8 million for a net profit of $1 million.

Industry experts say organized retail crimes like this cost the U.S. about $30 billion a year. While that estimate includes other crimes like credit card fraud, gift card fraud, and price tag switching, the FBI generally focuses on the most significant retail theft cases involving the interstate transportation of stolen property.