Maldonado-Passage, Joseph

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    Joe Exotic Is Resentenced to 21 Years for ‘Tiger King’ Murder-for-Hire Plot

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    Joe Exotic, the former Oklahoma zoo owner who was the central figure in the 2020 Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” was resentenced to 21 years in prison on Friday for the failed murder-for-hire plot targeting Carole Baskin, a self-proclaimed animal-rights activist who had criticized his zoo’s treatment of animals, his lawyers said.The new sentence reduces his punishment by one year. The original sentence, for 22 years in prison, was vacated as improper by a federal appeals court last summer.John M. Phillips, a lawyer for Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, said in a statement, “We are unsatisfied with the court’s decision and will appeal.” At a news conference, he said that Mr. Maldonado-Passage was disappointed.In court documents on Friday, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said, “Please don’t make me deal with cancer in prison waiting on an appeal.”In November, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said he received a diagnosis of an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer.Mr. Maldonado-Passage, 58, was initially sentenced to prison in 2020 after twice attempting to hire people — including an undercover F.B.I. agent — to kill Ms. Baskin; their rivalry was one of the main plot lines of “Tiger King.” He was also found guilty of falsifying wildlife records and violating the Endangered Species Act for his role in trafficking and killing tigers.Last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in favor of Mr. Maldonado-Passage’s appeal that his sentence was too long. Lawyers for the reality TV star had argued that a Federal District Court in Oklahoma had not grouped his two murder-for-hire convictions when his sentence was calculated. If the two counts had been grouped instead of considered for separate sentences, his prison term could have been as short as 17 and a half years, the court said.After the ruling, in a recording that his lawyers provided to The New York Times, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said his original sentence was “absolute crap.”Mr. Maldonado-Passage has always maintained his innocence and waged public campaigns, mostly through social media, for his release from prison. He failed to receive a pardon from former President Donald J. Trump in 2021 after months of petitioning and has since refocused his efforts on President Biden. After he received his cancer diagnosis, Mr. Maldonado-Passage was later transferred to a medical facility in North Carolina, according to his lawyer, Mr. Phillips.The next month, court documents showed that Mr. Maldonado-Passage was delaying treatment until after his resentencing, according to The Associated Press.At the courthouse in Oklahoma City on Friday, supporters of Mr. Maldonado-Passage attended the hearing, some wearing animal-print masks and T-shirts that read: “Free Joe Exotic,” The A.P. reported.Johnny Diaz More

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      Court Orders Resentencing of Joe Exotic in ‘Tiger King’ Murder-for-Hire Plot

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      An appeals court upheld the conviction but ruled that the trial court had miscalculated the sentence for hiring people to kill Carole Baskin.The 22-year prison sentence given to Joe Exotic, the central character in the popular Netflix series “Tiger King,” was vacated as improper on Wednesday by a federal appeals court that affirmed his conviction but ordered him resentenced for hiring people to kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin.Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced to prison last year after he twice tried to hire people — including an undercover F.B.I. agent — to kill Ms. Baskin, a self-proclaimed animal-rights activist who had criticized his big cat zoo’s treatment of animals.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in favor of Mr. Maldonado-Passage’s appeal that his sentence was too long. He argued that a Federal District Court in Oklahoma did not group his two murder-for-hire convictions when his sentence was calculated. If the court had grouped the two counts together instead of considering the counts for separate sentences, his prison term could have been as low as 17 and a half years, according to the court ruling.In addition to two counts of murder-for-hire, Mr. Maldonado-Passage, 58, was found guilty of falsifying wildlife records and violating the Endangered Species Act for his role in trafficking and killing tigers. The court on Wednesday upheld his convictions.In a recording his lawyers provided to The Times, Mr. Maldonado-Passage said after the ruling that he believed his original sentence was “absolute crap.” He also said that Ms. Baskin said she would help him get out of prison if he supported the Big Cat Public Safety Act, a congressional bill limiting the trade of big cats.Mr. Maldonado-Passage’s lawyer for the appeal, Brandon Sample, said in a statement on Wednesday that he was optimistic that the court’s decision was the first of many victories for his client.“I knew when I agreed to represent Joe that an appeal would be difficult,” Mr. Sample said, “but I also knew that the law was on Joe’s side.”Carole Baskin at her Big Cat Rescue compound near Tampa, Fla., in 2017.Loren Elliott/Tampa Bay Times, via Associated PressThe contentious relationship between Mr. Maldonado-Passage and Ms. Baskin, 60, was one of the main plot lines of “Tiger King.” He owned a zoo, the G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Okla., that housed lions, tigers and big cat crossbreeds, which Ms. Baskin condemned, prosecutors said. Ms. Baskin operated her own big cat facility in Florida, but she described hers as a sanctuary that did not crossbreed big cats.The feud escalated when Mr. Maldonado-Passage renamed his cat shows “Big Cat Rescue Entertainment,” a name similar to Ms. Baskin’s sanctuary, “Big Cat Rescue.” Ms. Baskin won a $1 million lawsuit against him over the name dispute, and he filed for bankruptcy because he could not afford his legal fees, prosecutors said.“It was a rivalry made in heaven,” the court ruling said.Mr. Maldonado-Passage decided to retaliate by hiring two people in 2017 to kill Ms. Baskin in Florida, a federal jury found. He paid his zoo employee, Alan Glover, $3,000 to travel to Tampa and cut off Ms. Baskin’s head.But Mr. Glover “got no further than partying on Florida beaches,” the appeals court ruling said.A month later, Mr. Maldonado-Passage offered a $10,000 payment to a man who turned out to be an undercover F.B.I. agent. He was arrested in 2018.“Despite all his efforts, Maldonado-Passage’s murderous plans failed,” the court ruling said.Mr. Maldonado-Passage now awaits a new sentence as he languishes in a Texas prison, the same place where he tried and failed to persuade President Donald Trump to pardon him. He’s hoping that President Biden will free him.“President Biden, if you are listening,” Mr. Maldonado-Passage said in the recording, “this is the time that you need to be a world hero and sign that pardon.”John M. Phillips, another lawyer for Mr. Maldonado-Passage, said in a statement that his team has new evidence that could change the outcome of the case. The lawyer claims that Ms. Baskin’s husband, Howard Baskin, had spoken years ago with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about infiltrating Mr. Maldonado-Passage’s zoo.“People should know what they saw in television isn’t the full truth,” Mr. Phillips said. “It isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.”Mr. Baskin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. More

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      After 'Tiger King,' Law Proposed to Protect Big Cats

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      The Big Cat Public Safety Act has been introduced before, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers hopes the public outcry from the Netflix documentary series will finally help it become law.The former roadside zoo owner known as Joe Exotic, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, remains in prison. The animal rights activist he was convicted of trying to kill, Carole Baskin, was given control of his old zoo in Oklahoma.But one year after the premiere of the Netflix series “Tiger King,” an unexpected quarantine binge hit that focused on their feud and the cutthroat world of roadside zoos, big cats remain unprotected from the exploitative practices the series helped reveal.Now, a bipartisan group of United States senators has introduced the latest version of a bill designed to keep unlicensed individuals from owning tigers and other big cats and forbid zoo owners from letting the public pet the animals or hold cubs.Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, introduced the Big Cat Safety Act last year, but it did not make it to the floor for a vote. Mr. Blumenthal said he was hopeful that with Democrats in control and some Republicans already supportive of the legislation, this is the year the bill will finally clear the Senate.“What I’ve seen is a groundswell of support,” Mr. Blumenthal said on Tuesday. “I don’t want to overstate it, but it really seems like an idea whose time has come.”Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Burr of North Carolina, agreed to introduce the bill on Monday with Mr. Blumenthal and Senator Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat.“Big cats like lions, tigers, and cheetahs belong in their natural habitats, not in the hands of private owners where they are too often subject to cruelty or improper care,” Ms. Collins said in a statement.The bill is similar to legislation that Representative Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, introduced in 2020.That bill, which would have allowed breeding and transporting of big cats only by educational facilities, and wildlife sanctuaries and zoos that restrict direct contact between animals and the public, had 230 sponsors and was passed by the House in December.Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, said the Big Cat Safety Act had the support of law enforcement organizations and dozens of zoos and sanctuaries, giving it “significant momentum.”“Whether it’s Joe Exotic, Doc Antle or Joe Blow, we can’t permit private individuals to keep big cats captive for pleasure or profit,” she said in a statement. “These operations endanger the public and produce the worst possible fate for the animals involved.”Under Mr. Blumenthal’s bill, it would be illegal for a private individual to transport big cats across state lines, breed them or own them. Zoos, sanctuaries and other exhibitors and organizations that are licensed by the Department of Agriculture or by a federal facility registered with the department would be exempt. Under the bill, no zoo or exhibitor could allow direct contact between members of the public and the animals.The law already requires all zoos to be licensed federally, according to Mr. Blumenthal’s office.Ms. Baskin’s organization, Big Cat Rescue, has long pushed for the Big Cat Safety Act, which was first introduced in 2012. The organization has been calling for a ban on cub petting for more than 20 years.“There is almost nothing more adorable than a tiger cub, and it’s very understandable if you don’t know the back story to want to pet a tiger cub and take a picture with it,” said Howard Baskin, Ms. Baskin’s husband and the treasurer and secretary of Big Cat Rescue. “It’s a miserable life for the cub.”The documentary was criticized by conservation groups and animal rights activists for not focusing enough on the abusive practices of roadside zoos and instead playing up salacious details, including the mystery around the disappearance of Ms. Baskin’s first husband.More tigers live in captivity in backyards, roadside zoos and truck stops in the United States than remain in the wild, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Before his arrest and conviction, Mr. Maldonado-Passage was a major breeder and seller of tigers and other big cats, who churned out cubs for profitable petting and photo sessions. When they became too big and dangerous for play, he disposed of them.Some were sold as pets to private buyers and others went to other roadside zoos for breeding. Some simply disappeared.The documentary’s footage of baby cubs being ripped from their mothers so they could be petted by the public shocked many viewers. Since then, state legislators have introduced their own version of bills that would ban such practices.Keith Evans, president of the Lion Habitat Ranch in Las Vegas, which has 31 big cats, said he was worried that legislators have become too reactionary and that the new laws being passed around the country could create bureaucratic entanglements that would punish responsible zoo owners.“The way some of the bills are worded, they’re wide open to interpretation,” he said. “There are enough rules on the books that if they just enforce them it would make everybody happy.”Mr. Blumenthal said the bill he introduced was meant to protect big cats from cruel and dangerous practices, not hamstring responsible zoos and sanctuaries.He said the bill had been referred to the Environment and Public Works Committee, which Mr. Carper chairs.“My focus is on preventing abuse and exploitation of the big cats and safeguarding the public,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Those two goals are paramount.” More