Florida man who dragged shark to its death behind high-speed boat in video sentenced to just 10 days in jail
After recording a shark being dragged to its death by a speed boat, a Florida man has now accepted a plea deal on Thursday and was sentenced to prison for 10 days. Robert Lee "Bo" Benac III, 30, was the third person to face charges for the June 2017 incident where the men could be heard laughing as the shark was being dragged by a rope from a 22-foot boat near Egmont Key.
The video had been posted to social media and had caused widespread outrage among the masses.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission had led the prosecution against Benac and Michael Wenzel, 23. Wenzel also took a similar plea deal back in February, reports the Bradenton Herald. As for Benac, he was given 11-month probation and ordered to pay a fine of $2,500 along with the prison sentence. He also has to perform 250 hours of community service, 125 of which must be spent at an animal shelter, the outlet added, mentioning that he lost his fishing license about three years ago.
Reportedly, Benac also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and violation of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules.
Benac, Wenzel, and Spencer Heintz, 35, all three were arrested back in December 2017. The charges against Heinstz Spencer, 24, were dropped due to lack of evidence that he broke the law, and he had been willing to testify against Benac and Wenzel, reports WFTS.
That incident wasn't the only one where Benac and Wenzel were seen torturing animals. Another video surfaced online where Wenzel was seen shooting a shark with a .38-caliber revolver, and third one showed the two men pouring alcohol down the throats of live fish, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
“We were confident in what we could do and what we could show, but at the end of the day you can never be 100 percent confident in the jury system,” Benac's lawyer, Justin Petredis, said. “That was a worry, that the anger and emotions of the jury would outweigh where we were hoping common sense would take over.” Petredis also said that Benac took the plea deal because of the mass outrage and spread of the videos online; Benac also received credit for spending a day in the county jail.
However, Miami shark hunter Mark Quartino, who had initially made the video public via Instagram, said the sentencing was too lenient.
"It's all just too lenient. They must have some connections," he told DailyMail.com, adding, "It's sick. It's just today's society."