Final man sentenced two years after dragging a shark to its death
The third and final man responsible for dragging a shark behind a boat in a viral video was sentenced to 10 days in jail after a plea deal on Thursday.
Robert Lee “Bo” Benac III will spend 10 days in jail for his part in torturing and killing the shark as he and his friends laughed while recording it.
It’s been over two years since the video first popped up on social media and sparked widespread outrage across social media.
Michael Wenzel, one of the other men in the video, took a similar plea deal back in February.
Benac, like Wenzel, will be able to serve his 10-day sentence over several weekends.
Not off the hook
He must also serve 11 months of probation, pay a $2,500 fine and perform 250 hours of community service, half of which will be spent at an animal shelter. He also won’t be able to have a fishing license for three years.
Spencer Heintz was arrested along with Benac and Wenzel back in December 2017, but the charges against him were later dropped.
Justin Petredis, Benac’s lawyer, says they decided to take the plea deal at the last minute because of how many people had watched the video.
“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 …,” 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.”
Other videos surfaced after the one showing the shark being dragged that likely made them fear a harsher sentence. One showed the men pouring alcohol down the throats of live fish while another showed Wenzel shoot a shark with a .38-caliber revolver.
Tell us your thoughts — does the punishment fit the crime or did they get off too easy?
