TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Three Florida men have pleaded not guilty to charges connected to a video of a shark being dragged behind a speeding boat.
Twenty-one-year-old Michael Wenzel and 23-year-old Spencer Heintz, of Palmetto, along with 28-year-old Robert Lee Benac of Bradenton, each face two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty. Wenzel and Benac also face a misdemeanor count of illegal method of taking a shark.
In a Tampa Bay Times report , Wenzel’s attorney, Stephen Crawford, said none of the men appeared at Wednesday’s hearing in Hillsborough County court. Their lawyers entered the not guilty pleas on their behalf.
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The video went viral in late July after a Miami sport fisherman criticized it on social media. Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission determined the dragging took place June 26 in state waters off Egmont Key.
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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.
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