Three Manatee County Men Plead Not Guilty in Shark Dragging Case

BRADENTON – Michael Wenzel, 21, of Palmetto, Robert Lee Benac, 28, of Bradenton, and Spencer Heintz, 23, of Palmetto pleaded not guilty Wednesday, to multiple charges related to an animal cruelty case that emerged as a result of a social media video of a hooked shark being violently dragged to its death from a fishing boat that went viral, sparking international outrage.

Wenzel and Benac have been charged with two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of Illegal Method of Take. Heintz is charged with two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty.A fourth person on the boat that day, Burns Easterling, is reported to be cooperating with authorities and has not been charged for his participation.

After videos of the event posted to social media sites went viral, people began submitting screenshots of other social media postings by the men involved, which seemed to show additional incidents of animal cruelty to marine wildlife.

The shark dragging event is said to have taken place in Hillsborough County waters, just off Egmont Key, after Benac caught a 6-foot blacktip shark. Wenzel is said to have shot the shark in the left side of the head, near its gills. The men in the video laugh as the blood-covered shark attempts to retreat. Benac then continues to drag the shark, during which time Wenzel is alleged to have fired three more shots at it, as his friends cheer and laugh, though it is not known whether those shots hit the shark.

Video later shot on land shows the dead shark lying over the side of the boat with its tail tied down by a rope that is held by Easterling, while they again laugh and cheer. Investigators say that the shark was killed with a spear gun, which is illegal.

Benac is then said to have sent video of the incident to Mark "the Shark" Quarantino, a famous Miami-based charter captain, who's appeared in numerous reality TV shows. Quarantino posted the video to his Instagram page and later informed the authorities as to who sent it to him. He has strongly condemned the actions on the video.

Officials say they sorted through more than 60,000 pieces of potential evidence before filing charges, mostly from social media platforms, including multiple videos of the events. Governor Scott denounced the actions, calling them "horrific" and saying that Florida has "zero tolerance" for such abuse.