A US federal court has found the eccentric protagonist from the hit Netflix series Tiger King sentenced to 21 years in prison. It concerns zoo owner Joe Exotic, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison two years ago. The case was dismissed due to procedural errors.
According to the court, it has been proven that Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, ordered the murder of an enemy of his, animal rights activist Carole Baskin. In the past, he had a rescue center for big cats and at the time criticized Joe Exotic’s treatment of animals. She was also seen in Tiger King.
Baskin told the judges he was still afraid that Joe Exotic would harm her. “He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will against me,” she said. Joe Exotic asked for leniency, because he will soon start treatment against cancer.
‘Not a serious proposal’
Earlier, the US prosecutor said he offered $10,000 to an FBI undercover agent to kill Baskin. Someone else would have gotten that offer too. But Joe Exotic’s lawyers argued that this was not a serious proposition and asked for an acquittal.
He has also been convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife data.
Case had to redo
The case against Joe Exotic had to be reopened after an appeals court ruled last year that the sentencing guidelines had not been followed properly. According to the court, Exotic should have received a lesser sentence than the 22 years he had previously been given. That is now only a year less.
The first season of Netflix series Tiger King came out at the beginning of 2020 and became a big hit, partly because many people had to stay at home due to the corona crisis.