JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Jacksonville investigation has led to the sentencing of a Florida woman for conspiracy to create and distribute animal crush videos.
Nicole Danielle Devilbiss, 35, of Jacksonville, was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger. Devilbiss entered a guilty plea on Feb. 13, 2024, and has been in custody since her arrest on Oct. 31, 2023.
“This investigation uncovered an unsettling underworld dedicated to the torment, torture and exploitation of innocent animals,” said HSI Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “Through our relentless pursuit of justice, alongside our sheriffs with Clay County, Jacksonville and St. Johns County, we have exposed a network of depraved people inflicting unspeakable cruelty on monkeys, who record their suffering and share it for profit and perverse pleasure.”
Animal crushing is defined under federal criminal law 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.”
According to court documents, in September 2023, HSI Jacksonville received information regarding an individual residing in Jacksonville who was identified as an administrator of a messaging application group chat that was dedicated to the abuse, torture and death of various-aged monkeys. The HSI investigation revealed that numerous people involved in the group exchanged hundreds, if not thousands, of messages about the abuse and torture of monkeys, as well as videos depicting their abuse and torture. The purpose of the group was to fund, view, distribute and promote animal crush videos that depicted, among other things, the torture, murder and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals, specifically baby and adult monkeys. The co-conspirators agreed to create animal crush videos using videographers and animals in other countries, to include Indonesia, which would then be sent to the United States. The name of the group changed multiple times to innocuous names that were inconsistent with the goals and interests of the group, which appeared to be to avoid detection by law enforcement.
This investigation led to the identification of Devilbiss as a member of that group. Law enforcement obtained some of those messages and videos that were exchanged involving Devilbiss, which detailed her interest in the abuse and torture of monkeys. Devilbiss and her co-conspirators collectively funded the creation of animal crush videos using online payment applications. Co-conspirators outside the United States received this funding and used it create animal crush videos.
During the execution of a search warrant at Devilbiss’s residence, numerous electronic devices were seized. Law enforcement found numerous videos depicting the torture of monkeys on Devilbiss’s devices. Law enforcement also located a journal that detailed Devilbiss’s interest in obtaining a monkey locally to abuse to create additional content.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office provided assistance during the investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Washington and Elisibeth Adams.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.