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President Donald Trump pardoned two South Florida shark divers, erasing their criminal records in a case that their lawyers and critics viewed as "government overreach."
Their legal odyssey began on Aug. 10, 2020, when John Moore Jr. and Tanner Mansell saw 19 sharks and a goliath grouper caught in what they believed was an illegal fishing longline 3 miles off the Jupiter Inlet, freed the sharks and grouper from its hooks, and brought the line to shore. The U.S. attorney's office charged the men with theft, and a jury found them guilty after deliberating for three days -- longer than their West Palm Beach federal trial.
U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks sentenced Moore and Mansell to one year of probation and ordered them to pay $3,345 in restitution to a Fort Pierce fisherman whose equipment was destroyed. Their convictions, upheld on appeal, made them felons, unable to vote, own firearms or freely travel abroad.
Miami defense attorneys Marc Seitles and Ashley Litwin-Diego, who represented Moore at trial and championed the men's appeal with the federal public defender's office, rejoiced over Trump's decision on Wednesday to grant them full clemency.
"We never stopped fighting and justice has finally prevailed," Seitles and Litwin-Diego said Thursday. "We are thrilled the White House considered our arguments, and determined this was an unjust prosecution. We could not be happier for John and Tanner."
West Palm Beach defense lawyer Ian Goldstein, who represented Mansell, echoed their sentiment.
"We are absolutely thrilled that Mr. Mansell and Mr. Moore have finally received the justice they deserve," Goldstein said on Friday. "This is a case that never should have been filed, and this acknowledgment of such has been a long time coming."
His client told the Palm Beach Post that his intentions in removing the fisherman's longline were good, not bad.
"Whether people believe in his politics or not, he chose to pardon me -- somebody who deeply cares for the environment and only ever wanted to help," Mansell said in a text to the Post after his pardon. "I can't help but feel extremely grateful."
The Palm Beach Post has reported extensively on the shark divers' case, noting that Moore and Mansell have said from the beginning they thought they were thwarting a crime, not committing one. It's why they called state wildlife officers to report the longline off the Jupiter Inlet, and why they smiled as they hauled the fishing gear onto a Jupiter dock -- a moment photographed and shared online by a local blogger.
The photo went viral, the Post reported. It ruptured an already tenuous relationship between the local fishing and shark-diving communities and prompted Scott Taylor, captain of the boat to which the longline belonged, to call the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and seek a criminal investigation.