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Thursday, August 03, 2017

Appeal Filed Week Before White Marlin Open To Start; Tourney Officials ‘Confident’ Ruling Will Stand

OCEAN CITY — With the 44th Annual White Marlin Open (WMO) looming next week, the angler and boat owner who was disqualified from last year’s tourney by a U.S. District Court judge in June following a lengthy trial filed an appeal on Wednesday seeking to overturn the judge’s ruling.

In June, a U.S. District Court judge essentially ruled in favor of the WMO and the other plaintiffs in a federal interpleader case against the supposed winner of the glamorous white marlin division in 2016, angler Phil Heasley and the Kallianassa out of Naples, Fla. Heasley’s 76.5-pound white marlin was the one and only qualifying white marlin weighed during 2016 event and was symbolically awarded a tournament-record $2.8 million.

However, apparent rules violations regarding the time of the catch and subsequent deceptive polygraph examinations by Heasley and the Kallianassa captain and crew landed the case first in Worcester County Circuit Court and later in U.S. District Court. In mid-June, U.S. District Court Richard Bennett ruled Heasley and the Kallianassa crew should be disqualified because of the rules violations regarding the time of the catch and the failed polygraph exams and the $2.8 million top prize was later redistributed to the winners in several other categories.

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7 comments:

  1. Needs to give it up. They were not honest and agreed to all rules. Just trying to save face now.

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  2. I'm still not sure about this! I've heard so many different versions of this! I do hope the truth comes out. You'd hate to think this is a crooked competition. I know I have my doubts now

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  3. Poor looser he cheated on the time they put their lines overboard, their error --give it up.

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  4. Who wants to even enter anymore after the Last Fiasco ???

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  5. The rules work the Fiasco was someone thinking they could get away with cheating. The WMO is a classic well ran tournament.

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  6. All the tournaments should be shut down. All they do is promote the needless taking/killing of billfish that should be catch and release only.

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    1. Go hug a tree your comments show just how much you do not know about WMO tournament.Over 95% of the billfish caught are tagged released and what fish are kept unless the angler is going to clean and eat it they go to the MD food bank to feed people.

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