Tiger King‘s Joe Exotic has been resentenced to 21 years in prison despite his request for leniency as he undergoes treatment for early-stage cancer.
A federal judge reduced the 58-year-old’s prison term by just one year on Friday. “Please don’t make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free,” Exotic tearfully told the judge, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The former zookeeper, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced to 22 years in prison in January 2020 after he was convicted of animal abuse charges and a murder-for-hire plot involving animal welfare activist Carole Baskin. Both subjects were featured in Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness.
Prosecutors said Exotic offered $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin during a recorded December 2017 meeting. In the recording, he told the agent: “Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.” Exotic’s lawyers have claimed that their client wasn’t being serious.
Exotic, who was also convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records, maintains his innocence.
“He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me,” said Baskin alongside her husband Howard at the proceedings, fearful that he could come after her again.
Baskin said even though Exotic is in prison, she has continued to receive “vile, abusive and threatening communications” over the last two years. She says she is just as scared for her life now that Exotic has gained a following, even though he is behind bars.
The inmate’s latest proceedings came about after federal appeals court ruled last year that the prison term Exotic is serving should be shortened.
His lawyers told the judge their client is suffering from stage-one prostate cancer, along with a disease that compromises his immune system, making him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. The Tiger King star will need up to eight weeks of radiation treatments and would be unable to travel during the treatments, which he will soon begin. Exotic was waiting for his case to be reconsidered before starting treatment.
His lawyer Amy Hanna told the judge he’s not receiving the proper medical care inside the federal prison system and that a lengthy prison sentence is a “death sentence for Joe that he doesn’t deserve.”
The courtroom on Friday was filled with Exotic’s supporters, some wearing animal-print masks and shirts that read “Free Joe Exotic.”
Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor