'Tiger King' Fame Joe Exotic Re-Sentenced To 21 Years In Prison, Reducing His Punishment By Just A Year -Report
Tiger King fame Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado Passage, has been re-sentenced to 21 years in prison
Tiger King fame Joe Exotic has been making headlines for controversial reasons. According to the latest reports, a federal judge re-sentenced Joe Exotic to 21 years in prison on Friday, reducing his punishment by just a year despite pleas from the former zookeeper for leniency as he begins treatment for cancer.
"Please don't make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free," he told a federal judge who resentenced him on a murder-for-fire charge.
The former zookeeper, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado Passage, was convicted in a case involving animal welfare activist Carole Baskin. Both were featured in Netflix's "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."
The re-sentencing on Friday comes after a federal appeals court ruled last year that the sentence Joe is serving on the murder-for-hire should be shortened. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Joe's attorneys told the judge that he is suffering from stage-one prostate cancer. ALSO READ:Joe Exotic Aka Tiger King BEGS For His Life In A Heart-Wrenching Letter From Prison, Says, 'I Will Be Dead In 2-3 Months'
The former zookeeper was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in prison after he was convicted of trying to hire two men to kill Baskin. She runs a rescue sanctuary in Florida and has publicly spoken against Joe's animal abuse. Baskin, who attended the proceedings along with her husband, said that she is fearful that Joe could threaten her. "He continues to harbour intense feelings of ill will towards me," she said.
She also told the judge that even with Joe being in prison, she has continued to receive "vile, abusive and threatening communications" over the last two years. She added that he now poses even more threat to her now that he has a larger group of supporters because of the popularity of the Netflix series.
Image Source:Instagram/JoeExotic