Court orders shorter sentence for ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic

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FILE – This file photo provided by the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Florida shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka “Joe Exotic.” On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, a federal appeals court ruled that “Tiger King” Joe Exotic should receive a shorter prison sentence for his role in a pay-murder plot and violation of federal wildlife laws. (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)

FILE – This file photo provided by the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Florida shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka “Joe Exotic.” On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, a federal appeals court ruled that “Tiger King” Joe Exotic should receive a shorter prison sentence for his role in a pay-murder plot and violation of federal wildlife laws. (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)

DENVER (Associated Press) – A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that “Tiger King” Joe Exotic should receive a shorter prison sentence for his role in a pay-murder plot and violation of federal wildlife laws.

Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in prison after being convicted of trying to hire two different men to kill animal rights activist Carol Baskin. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver found that the lower court had wrongly treated these two convictions separately in calculating his prison term under sentencing guidelines.

The blonde mullet-clad park ranger, known for his lewd remarks on YouTube and his failed 2018 campaign in Oklahoma, made a prominent appearance in the popular Netflix documentary “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”

The committee agreed with Maldonado Bassage that the court should have treated them as a single convict when sentencing because both had the same goal of killing Baskin, who runs a big cat rescue sanctuary in Florida. According to the ruling, the court should have calculated the scope of the advisory sentence on him as between 17 and a half years and just under 22 years in prison, and not between less than 22 and 27 years in prison. The Court of First Instance ordered that the sentence be returned to Maldonado Passage.

Brandon Sample, his appeals attorney, said Maldonado Passage was likely to receive a sentence lower than the range mentioned in the ruling because the court would have to take into account other factors as well.

Meanwhile, another lawyer representing Maldonado Passage, John M. Phillips, has hinted at the possibility of seeking a new trial, saying in a statement that he will file petitions citing previously undisclosed and newly discovered evidence in the case as well as examples of government misconduct. .

“People should know that what they saw on TV is not the whole truth. It’s not even the tip of the iceberg. It was snowflakes on top of the iceberg, made largely by those who wanted to see Joe Exotic in prison for their own good,” he said.

Maldonado Passage, who maintained his innocence, was also sentenced to kill five tigers, sell tiger cubs and falsify wildlife records.

His supporters were disappointed that former President Donald Trump failed to pardon him before he left office. They were so confident in his chances that they outfitted a ceremonial limousine, a hair team, and a wardrobe to get him out of prison.

In his pardon request, Maldonado-Passage’s lawyers argued that others had been “betrayed and deceived” and said he would “likely die in prison” due to health concerns. He is serving his sentence in a medical prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

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This story has been corrected to say that the Court of Appeal said the lower court should have calculated a range of advisory sentencing between 17 and a half and less than 22 years in prison, not that Maldonado Passage should have been sentenced within that range.

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