West palm beach, fl. President Donald Trump forgived two florida sharks convicted of stealing for 19 shark cutting, and the Goliath Grouper without a fishermen’s line, which was falsely thought to be illegal.
May 28 The grace of forgiveness provided complete John Moore Jr. and Tanner Mansell, who noticed a long line at a 3 -mile distance from Jupiter’s inlet in 2020. On August 10, and pulled to the shore. The name alone cost the ship owner about $ 1,300, and the value of the lost sharks was a few thousand more.
“Whether people believe in his politics or not, he chose me to forgive – a man who cares about the environment and ever wanted to help,” Mansell said after his grace. “I can’t help but I feel extremely grateful.”
Defense attorneys Marc Seites and Ashley Litwin, who helped to ensure the grace of men, said the decision to blame them was still a clear case of government overflow.
Although both avoided prison time, their grace means that they are no longer criminals in restoring their rights to vote, their firearms and travel abroad freely.
USA Today appealed to the White House to comment.
Why did they cut sharks?
Moore and Mansell said they thought they were doing the right thing, confiscating the line and launching the sharks caught by his hooks. They both said this was the reason why they called state -owned wildlife officials to report the line and why they captured photos when they liberated sharks and pulled out the water from the water, which were later used against them in court.
A photo of Captain John Moore Jr. and passengers, unloading the mile length line into the dock in Jupiter, was viral 2020. August 10 Prosecutors would use this photo, while others would be prosecuted by Moore and his crew friend Tanner Mansell, for theft in the Federal Court.
Who owned a long line?
The 3 -mile length line belonged to only one of the five ships in the world, which NOAA allowed to remove sandbar sharks for research.
Scott Taylor, the captain of the boat, belonged to Longline, called the National Ocean and atmospheric Administration and sought criminal investigation. Federal prosecutors said the divers knew the line was legal and still sabotable it to preserve the shark populations for their commercial interests.
When was the couple convicted?
Moore Jr. and Mansell were found guilty in 2022. December 2, after the jurors considered three days – longer than the trial itself.
US District Judge Donald Middlebrox later convicted a couple of one year of probation and told them to pay $ 3,345 in the restitution of Fort Pierce Fisherman, whose equipment was destroyed.
Why was their prosecution questioned?
Trump was not the first to question Moore and Mansell’s prosecution. In 2024 Two judges in the District Court of Appeal, 11, asked the men why men were charged with a crime.
Judge Barbara Lagoa said US lawyer Tom Watts-Fitzzgerald has prosecuted men “for reasons for ignoring understanding.” She compared him to the inspector Javert, a ruthless legislator from Les Misérabsles, who for decades harassed the man for theft of one bread loaf.
“Moore and Mansell are criminals because they tried to save sharks from what they thought was illegal poaching operation,” Lagoa wrote. “They are the only criminals I have ever encountered, on the bench over the age of eighteen, and for three years as a federal prosecutor who called law enforcement to report what they see and what they take in real time.”
However, the court ruled that, under federal laws, it was sufficient that divers had intentionally taken the property that was not of them.
“Often, in criminal defense, this is a long way to feel that you are heading to the wall and nobody cares,” Litwin said. “It felt like that.”
This article initially appeared in the USA Today: Trump Florida divers that cut 19 sharks without a long line