A Beaumont man has been sentenced to federal prison for violations related to animal cruelty in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs announced today.
Donaldvan Williams, 30, pleaded guilty to charges of animal crushing and aiding and abetting. On September 10, 2024, U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone sentenced Williams to 40 months in federal prison.
Animal crushing, as defined under federal criminal law, involves the intentional infliction of serious bodily injury on one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians through various methods, including crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, or impaling.
Court documents reveal that on October 15, 2021, Williams and Decorius Mire encountered a live domestic cat in the parking lot of a Beaumont apartment complex. Williams, encouraged by Mire, kicked the cat with force, sending it approximately 15 to 20 feet through the air. Mire filmed the incident and posted the video on social media, where it received comments and was shared widely.
Williams and Mire were prosecuted under the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which, since its enactment in November 2019, has prohibited intentional harm to animals and the creation of "animal crush videos."
Mire, who was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in July 2023, was also involved in this case.
The investigation was conducted by the Beaumont Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Batte and Department of Justice and Environmental and Natural Resource Division Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy.
