Federal Judge Orders $281K Bond Before Hearing White Marlin Open Verdict Appeal

OCEAN CITY — It remains to be seen if the disqualified angler from the 2016 White Marlin Open will be successful in appealing a federal judge’s ruling denying his $2.8 million prize, but one aspect is clear it will cost him more money for the attempt.

In June, a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of the White Marlin Open (WMO) and the other plaintiffs in a federal interpleader case against the supposed winner of the glamour white marlin division in the 2016 tournament. Angler Phil Heasley and the Kallianassa out of Naples, Fla. caught the only qualifying white marlin during the 2016 WMO and was symbolically awarded a tournament-record $2.8 million.

The prize money was withheld when questions about the time of the catch and subsequent deceptive polygraph examinations by Heasley and the Kallianassa captain and crew landed the case in U.S. District Court. In mid-June, after an eight-day trial, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett ruled Heasley and the Kallianassa crew should be ineligible for the $2.8 million record prize because of the apparent rules violations regarding the time of catch and the failed polygraph exams and prize money should be redistributed to the winners in several other categories in the 2016 tournament.

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