Trump pardons diver convicted for freeing sharks

President Donald Trump has pardoned a diver who was convicted of a felony for freeing a group of sharks that were trapped.

Fox News reports that the diver, 31-year-old Tanner Mansell of Jupiter, Florida, is now thanking Trump for the pardon.

First, though, we will take a look at how Mansell ended up with a felony conviction to his name.

Florida diver convicted of freeing 19 sharks says he’s ‘speechless’ after getting pardon from President Trump https://t.co/uZdPNDcPs0 pic.twitter.com/TMOvVU57Qb

— New York Post (@nypost) June 29, 2025

Background

Fox explains the incident that led to the felony charge.

Per the outlet:

In April 2020, Mansell and Moore took a group, which included the Kansas City police chief and a SWAT officer, and encountered a buoy connected to a longline over a dive site. A longline is a type of deep-sea fishing gear with baited hooks to catch fish.

It turns out, however, that this longline belonged to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Fox continues:

Unaware that the longline belonged to a legally sanctioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shark research operation, Mansell and his team acted swiftly and cut the line. They released 19 sharks back into the ocean.

It would be days later, according to the outlet, that Mansell got the news that he was facing a felony charge. He spoke with law enforcement and did everything he could to clear his name, but he ended up being convicted of a felony. He did not go to jail, but he was forced to pay a fine of over $3,000 and the felony conviction meant that he could not vote in elections, own firearms, or travel freely.

An unexpected pardon

Trump pardoned Mansell just recently.

The document, in part, reads:

Be it known, that this day, I, Donald J. Trump, president of the Untied States, pursuant to miy powers under article II, section 2, clause 1, of the Constitution, have granted unto the individual named below a full and uncondition pardon.

Mansell, in an interview, said that he was surprised to get the pardon.

“We were really surprised to get the pardon,” he said, adding, “I was getting a call from my lawyer and I answered, and he says, ‘Well, I’ve got good news for you. You just got a full presidential pardon.’ I was speechless. I couldn’t even say thank you. I just soaked it in.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Mansell said, “Knowing what I know now, I absolutely would do things completely differently.”

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