Advertisement

Joe Exotic Resentenced To 21 Years In Prison For His Role In Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Carole Baskin

Tom Tapp
·2 min read

While supporters of Joe Exotic were hoping he would be released today, a federal judge resentenced the star of Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness to 21 years in prison, taking just one year off his original 22-year sentence for his participation in a murder-for-hire plot. AP first reported the news.

According to prosecutors, Exotic attempted to hire two men to kill rival tiger aficionado and animal welfare activist Carole Baskin. One of those he tired to hire was an undercover FBI agent.

More from Deadline

Baskin reportedly testified before the resentencing. “He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me,” she said.

In July, a three-judge panel ruled that the original trial court improperly treated the murder-for-hire counts as separate rather than as one. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver did not vacate Exotic’s 2020 conviction on two counts of hiring hitmen to murder Baskin, for which he was sentenced to 22 years in prison as part of a litany of charges that included wildlife crimes.

Exotic (per the court documents known as “Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joseph Allen Maldonado, aka Joseph Allen Schreibvogel, aka Joe Exotic) is a self-described “gay, gun-toting, redneck in Oklahoma” who specialized in tiger shows at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, and even ran for Oklahoma governor in 2018 all while feuding with Baskin, even accusing her of killing her husband who has never been found.

Exotic has been serving his sentence in Fort Worth, TX, and famously along with supporters publicly lobbied then-President Donald Trump for a pardon which he did not receive.

Patrick Hipes contributed to this report.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.