New videos show Robert “Bo” Benac and others accused of dragging a live shark behind a speeding boat using hooked sharks as target practice.
The video, obtained by Fox 13 in Tampa ahead of Benac’s criminal case in Hillsborough County, Florida, allegedly show Benac and his friends repeatedly firing a pistol into a living shark as the animals thrashed at the end of a line.
Benac is currently facing two counts of Aggravated Animal Cruelty, a third-degree felony, and one misdemeanor count of Illegal Method of Take. His trial is set to begin in September where he could be facing up to 10 years in prison.
Video of the dragging incident first surfaced in July of 2017 showing the shark being pulled behind a boat at a high rate of speed until the shark’s body had been ripped to shreds. The video shows the members of the fishing expedition laughing and reveling in the creature’s demise.
The original charges were brought in December of 2017 after a four-month long investigation into the video and other images on social media, FWC investigators determined that the trio showed a “shocking disregard for Florida’s natural resources.” The incident was determined to have taken place off the coast of Egmont Key in Hillsborough County.
Benac’s mother, Betsy, is a Manatee County Commissioner and Republican chairperson who frequently touted her family’s good Christian values on the campaign trail.
Michael Wenzel, the boat captain involved in the incident, plead guilty to animal cruelty charges in exchange for a reduced sentence in February. Under the plea agreement Wenzel served 10 days in a Hillsborough County jail and was placed on probation for 11 months.
Charges against another man involved in the incident, Spencer Heintz of Sarasota, were dropped last May after he agreed to cooperate with authorities. Heintz contends that even though he was a passenger on the boat, he was not involved in the actions shown in the video and in other social media posts that were taken as evidence. Heintz’s father, Steven, is a prominent south Florida Lawyer. A fourth man appearing in the video, Nicholas Burns Easterling, was not charged after cooperating with investigators.