A Florida man who dragged the shark to death in a viral video was sentenced to 10 days in prison



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Robert Lee Benac, 30, was charged on Friday with a criminal offense of animal cruelty, according to the records of Hillsbourgh County Jail and his lawyer, Justin Brent Petredis.

The court dropped one of the charges and reduced the other to animal cruelty, a crime, Petredis told CNN on Monday.

In addition to his 10-day prison sentence, which he must serve on weekends, Benac was sentenced to 11 months probation and a $ 2,500 fine, according to the newspaper. He must also complete 250 hours of community service, of which 125 will be served in an animal shelter.

The video, taken on June 26, 2017, showed Benac and two other men laughing while dragging the shark, which was obviously struggling several times. One of the men said the shark looked "almost dead".

According to Florida wildlife investigators, the shark was shot before being dragged to death.

The video drew attention after Mark Quartiano, a Miami-based fisherman, passes for "Mark the Shark," posted on Instagram, claiming that two Instagram users had sent him. He told CNN that he was "horrified" by the video and posted it in the hope that the men would be captured.

According to the sentence, Benac has to serve three weekends in prison. This weekend was his first, said his lawyer on Monday.

The Benac fishing license has also been revoked for three years, Petredis said.

The judge in the case has upheld the decision, which means that Benac has not been sentenced, although the prosecution still appears in his case, said Petredis.

Michael Wenzel and Spencer Heintz, the other two men in the video, were also charged with two counts of felony before the charges against Heintz were dropped, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Given a plea agreement similar to that of Benac, Wenzel was sentenced to 10 days in prison and probation, the newspaper said.

Tina Burnside, Doug Criss and Samira Said from CNN contributed to this report.

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