Joe Exotic in Tiger King
(Picture: NETFLIX)Tiger King star Joe Exotic is set to get a new sentence in Oklahoma after an appeals court ruled to shorten his prison term for a murder-for-hire conviction.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is expected to attend Friday’s sentencing in Oklahoma City after a judge approved his transfer from a federal medical centre in Butner, North Carolina.
It emerged last month the former zoo owner has been delaying his prostate cancer treatment until after his resentencing.
Originally the big cat lover was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in prison for trying to hire two different men to kill animal welfare activist and rival Carole Baskin.
His attorneys are calling for a lesser prison sentence than the guidelines suggest as they allege “imperfect entrapment, sentencing manipulation, and outrageous government conduct”.
At the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel of three judges agreed with Exotic that the court should have treated it as one conviction because it had the same goal of attempting to murder Baskin.
Both Exotic and Baskin starred in Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness which propelled the larger than life characters to stardom.
Many of Exotic’s supporters want to see the star released from prison.
Prosecutors said the TV personality 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.”
His attorneys said their client was not being serious and Exotic maintains his innocence.
He was also convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.
His attorneys wrote in a sentencing memorandum: "From decisions made in the initial stages of the investigation to charging decisions to overzealous sentencing recommendations, one thing remains clear: this case was about doing whatever it took to put Mr. Maldonado-Passage behind bars for as long as possible.”
Federal prosecutors said in court records they would defer recommending a new sentence because of the allegations he raised.
"In the unlikely event that any of these claims withstand scrutiny and ultimately are determined to be credible, those developments could impact the United States’ ultimate sentencing recommendation" because the prosecutors are obligated to investigate them, U.S. Attorney Robert Troester wrote.
