Man who dragged shark from boat in Florida sentenced to 10 days in jail
A Florida fisherman will spend 10 days in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor animal cruelty for dragging a live shark by the tail from a boat.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Robert “Bo” Benac III was the last of three men facing charges stemming from the June 2017 incident.
The case became infamous when video surfaced of the men dragging the shark at high speeds behind their boat, shredding the animal. Other videos were found showing the men shooting a shark and pouring alcohol down the throats of live fish, according to The Associated Press.
The videos went viral when celebrity shark hunter, Mark “The Shark” Quartiano, saw them and expressed his disgust.
“That’s not a sportsman, that’s animal cruelty,” Quartiano told CBS News at the time.
Benac will also pay a $2,500 fine, perform 250 hours of service at an animal shelter and lose his fishing license for three years. He had been set to go on trial Thursday for felony aggravated cruelty to animals.
A second man, Michael Wenzel, accepted a similar plea earlier, The Times reported.
Benac got credit for a day in jail stemming from his arrest.
He is able to serve the rest of the time over the course of five weekends.
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