- Joined
- Feb 21, 2023
Nicholas Tyler Dryden plead guilty. He remains in jail, which he has been in since June 7, 2024.

Nick's greatest moments and general breakdown:
https://www.justice.gov/enrd/blog/environmental-crimes-bulletin-march-2025 / https://archive.ph/JLTi0United States v. Nicholas Dryden, et al.
No. 1:24-CR-00066 (Southern District of Ohio)
•ECS Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman
•AUSA Tim Oakley
•ECS Paralegal Jonah Fruchtman
On March 11, 2025, Nicholas Dryden pleaded guilty to creating and distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys (known as animal “crush” videos) (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(3)). Co-defendant Giancarlo Morelli entered a similar plea in December 2024.
Dryden commissioned videos from a 17-year-old in Indonesia who was willing to commit specified acts of torture on video in exchange for payment. Dryden utilized Telegram, a cross-platform messaging app that includes encrypted group messaging and private chats, to advertise the animal crush videos and solicit funding for additional videos. Within these private groups, Dryden shared snippets of videos that he commissioned and advertised that the full content was for sale. Co-defendants Morelli and Philip Colt Moss each sent money to Dryden more than a dozen times in exchange for monkey torture videos.
Thereafter, they frequently gave feedback on the videos and Morelli sometimes suggested torturous acts he’d like to see in future videos.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

Nick's greatest moments and general breakdown:
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