'Tiger King' sentenced to 22 years for violence against tigers and people
Once the leader of a large tiger breeding and cub-petting organization, the judge ruled Joe Exotic can never possess tigers again.
JOSEPH MALDONADO-PASSAGE, BETTER known as “Joe Exotic,” shuffled into federal court in Oklahoma City on Wednesday for sentencing, his hands and feet shackled. He wore an orange prison jumpsuit. Until his arrest in September 2018, he’d run one of the largest tiger breeding and cub-petting and photo op attractions in the U.S., sometimes putting on shows dressed as a Las Vegas-style performer.
But the man once hailed as “The Tiger King” was now subdued, haggard. There was no trace of the confident, effusive showman I’d observed during his seven-day trial last spring. On April 2, a jury convicted him on two counts of murder-for-hire and 17 wildlife charges, which we’d reported as part of a larger story examining why 5,000 to 10,000 captive tigers live in the US, who owned them—and why.
Joe Exotic wept as he pled with the judge for leniency. “I broke no laws,” he said. He claimed ill health. He said he owed his victim, Carole Baskin, an apology and then blamed her, the government, law enforcement, his employees and others for his current plight.
His face remained emotionless as Judge Scott Palk issued his sentence: 264 months, or 22 years in prison. For the 56 year-old, it’s essentially a life sentence.
Joe Exotic had tried to hire two different hitmen—an employee and an undercover FBI agent—to kill Carole Baskin, founder of the Big Cat Rescue Wildlife Sanctuary in Florida. She was his sworn enemy. Her “911 Animal Abuse” website profiled people who mass-bred tigers, separated cubs from their mothers at birth, and used them as photo props. The site rallied protests against the lucrative traveling shows that Joe Exotic staged at malls and fairs. It ruined his business, he threatened her on social media and in public—and then he tried to get her killed.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/01/tiger-king-joe-exotic-sentenced-22-years-violence-tigers-murder-hire/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=linkedin::cmp=editorial::add=li20200127animals-newanimalsjoeexotic::rid=&sf229003679=1
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