This photo released by the Nassau County Police Department on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019 shows Justin Visconti. Police say the Long Island man has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after he allegedly beat several cats, bound them with duct tape and threw them down his apartment building's garbage chute. (Nassau County Police Department via AP) This photo released by the Nassau County Police Department on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019 shows Justin Visconti. Police say the Long Island man has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after he allegedly beat several cats, bound them with duct tape and threw them down his apartment building's garbage chute. (Nassau County Police Department via AP)

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A man who police say beat several cats, bound them with duct tape and threw them down his apartment building’s garbage chute is facing animal cruelty charges.

Nassau County police said Wednesday the bodies of several cats and kittens were found outside the trash chute of a building in Mineola, New York.

The animals had suffered blunt force trauma, the police said in a statement. They said the cats had been bound with duct tape before being placed in cardboard boxes and bed sheets and tossed down the chute, where they were found by a building employee and a resident.

Building resident Justin Visconti, 37, was arrested Tuesday on four charges of aggravated animal cruelty. It’s not clear if Visconti has an attorney who can speak for him.

Visconti could be sentenced to up to two years in prison if he is convicted of the charges against him.

President Donald Trump signed a bill this week that makes certain acts of animal cruelty a federal felony.

The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act prohibits extreme acts of cruelty when they occur in interstate commerce or on federal property.