He dreamed of an improbable release, but the judge decided otherwise. Friday, Joe Exotic, the ex-boss of the zoo star of the Netflix documentary Tiger King, was sentenced on appeal to 21 years in prison for “murder-for-hire”, one year less than at first instance. Joe Maldonado-Passage, real name, was on trial for hiring two people to kill Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist who ran a sanctuary who had become his pet peeve.
Grace denied by Trump
Prosecutors Say Joe Exotic Offered $10,000 to FBI Agent undercover to kill Baskin. In a recorded conversation, we hear him say in particular: “Follow her in the parking lot of a shopping center, gun her down and get out of here”.
In 2020, supporters of Joe Exotic had mobilized to ask Donald Trump to pardon him at the end of his mandate, and a limousine had even been chartered for the occasion. Donald Trump had pardoned 143 people, including his ex-adviser Steve Bannon and rapper Lil Wayne, but not Maldonado-Passage. At 58, the “Tiger King”, who suffers from aggressive prostate cancer, might spend the rest of his days behind bars.
