Breaking: 11th Conviction in Plainville Farms Cruelty Cases for Man Who Wrung Turkey’s Neck

For Immediate Release:
July 23, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Based on overwhelming evidence gathered during a PETA undercover investigation, former Plainville Farms worker Francisco Mitchell Lebron-Cruz pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals yesterday in the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas and was sentenced to one year of probation, during which he is prohibited from obtaining any employment that involves the care or custody of animals. He was convicted for wringing a turkey’s neck, causing the bird to flap and thrash face-down for around 30 seconds, on a factory farm in Perry County. Lebron-Cruz then grabbed the still-writhing turkey and threw the bird onto the floor.

In August 2023, Lebron-Cruz also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cruelty in Union County for picking up a turkey and bashing the bird’s neck on the edge of a wooden board. A short time later, the turkey was found lying on his back and convulsing before he died. Later that day, Lebron-Cruz kicked an injured turkey three times.

Pennsylvania State Police charged 12 former Plainville workers with a total of 141 counts of cruelty to animals, the largest number in any factory-farmed animal case in U.S. history. Eight other former Plainville Farms workers—including former supervisor Kevin Lee Wagaman—entered guilty pleas to cruelty charges between June 2023 and July 2024. Additionally, in October 2023, another worker, Christopher Stephen McArdle, pleaded no contest to a cruelty-to-animals charge. Broadcast-quality video footage from PETA’s investigation is available here.

“Convictions are stacking up for these abusers, who added to the suffering of terrified turkeys already staring down death,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “Plainville Farms slapped “humane” labels on the flesh of turkeys who were thrown, shaken, and kicked, and PETA urges everyone to help shut down the meat industry’s sham by please going vegan.”

PETA’s investigator documented that workers kicked turkeys, including birds who were sick, injured, and unable to walk. After failing to break their necks, they left the birds to convulse and die in agony on the shed floor. Instead of trying to stop the abuse, a supervisor joined in, kicking turkeys and berating the investigator for not doing the same. Workers threw hens at one another as though they were basketballs. One worker pretended to masturbate with a dying bird, and another sat on and pretended to rape a live turkey.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. The group also offers a free vegan starter kit on its website for anyone ready to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.