Florida fisherman who dragged shark behind the boat in viral video jailed for 10 days

A Florida fisherman who dragged cruelty a shark to its death from a high-speed boat has been jailed for 10 days.

Robert Benac III, 30, of Bradenton, and the son of Manatee County Commissioner Betsy Benac, will pay a $2,500 fine, and ordered perform 250 hours of service at an animal shelter.

He was stripped of his fishing license for 3 years after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor of animal cruelty. And Benac accepted the deal just as he was about to go to trial on Thursday on a more heavy felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals, according to The Bradenton Herald.

Boat captain Michael Wenzel, 22, from Palmetto, also engaged in the July 2017 video, accepted a similar plea deal in February he was also required him to serve 10 days in jail over five weekends.

Benac and Wenzel weren’t as lucky.

The case came when a video show of the men dragging the shark at high speeds behind their boat in 2017, and ripping the animal.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission launched a realization about the video.

Benac’s lawyer, Justin Petrides said, “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٪ confident in the jury system. That was a worry, that the anger and emotions of the jury would outweigh where we were hoping common sense would take over.”

He had been set to go on trial Thursday for crime aggravated cruelty to animals.

Following the incident, Other videos were found showing the men pouring alcohol down the throats of live fish, One video shows a man ‘Michael Wenzel’ who shooting a shark with a 38-caliber revolver.