Two Florida men who believed they were intervening in an illegal fishing operation have now been fully pardoned by President Donald Trump, ending a years-long legal battle that began with an act of environmental rescue.
In August 2020, shark divers John Moore Jr. and Tanner Mansell encountered a longline fishing setup about three miles off the coast near Jupiter Inlet. Convinced it was illegally placed, the pair freed 19 sharks and a goliath grouper caught on the line and later brought the equipment ashore.
However, federal authorities charged them with theft, claiming the longline belonged to a licensed scientific vessel conducting legally sanctioned research. The case went to trial, and after three days of jury deliberation—longer than the trial itself—both men were convicted. In late 2022, they were sentenced to probation, ordered to pay $3,345 in restitution, and branded felons, losing the right to vote, own firearms, or travel internationally.
Despite an appeal, their convictions were upheld. Yet the case attracted public attention and criticism, including comparisons by a federal judge to the obsessive pursuit of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. Judge Barbara Lagoa, writing for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, questioned the motivation behind the prosecution, describing the men as “the only felons I have ever encountered… who called law enforcement to report what they were seeing and what actions they were taking in real time.”
Their defense attorneys—including Marc Seitles, Ashley Litwin-Diego, and Ian Goldstein—welcomed the presidential pardon. “Justice has finally prevailed,” Seitles and Litwin-Diego said in a joint statement. “This was an unjust prosecution from the start.”
Mansell, expressing gratitude, told The Palm Beach Post via text: “Whether people agree with his politics or not, President Trump chose to pardon someone who truly cares for the environment. I’m beyond grateful.”
The longline in question was part of one of only five globally permitted vessels for harvesting sandbar sharks under NOAA regulations. Federal prosecutors argued that the divers sabotaged a legal operation, possibly to protect their own commercial interests. However, the diver community and environmental advocates rallied behind Moore and Mansell, raising over $28,000 through a GoFundMe campaign.
The viral photo of the divers smiling beside the longline gear, initially seen as a victory for marine life, became a flashpoint between South Florida’s fishing and diving communities—eventually leading to the felony convictions. But with Trump’s clemency, their records are now wiped clean.
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Well done!
It’s time to ban shark fishing wherever and whenever possible and it’s only ludicrous that the US still allows even disgraceful “shark tournaments”in which these magnificent animals are tortured and killed for “sport”… divers shhould be doing much more against this!