What's Really Going On With Joe Exotic's Prison Time?
The story of Joe Exotic's wild life was told in part during the Netflix series "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness," but there has been a new development. The eclectic reality television personality, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, has been in prison since he received a 22-year sentence in 2019. As KOCO detailed, the "Tiger King" star was convicted of conspiring to have his nemesis Carole Baskin killed. He also faced charges related to offering the sale of tiger cubs as well as killing five tigers he'd had at his exotic animal park. Now, a new ruling provides a glimmer of hope the "Tiger King" star may not have to serve his full 22-year sentence. Exotic was accused of killing the tigers in October 2017, although he claimed he did that because they were in pain. He also attempted to sell tiger cubs around that same time, and the alleged murder-for-hire plot took place in November 2017. He was hit with federal charges in September 2018 and found guilty in April 2019.  Still, Exotic had hoped to receive a pardon from former President Donald Trump in January. In fact, he and his team were so confident the pardon would come, they had a limousine ready to pick him up upon his release, had a style team standing by, and pre-recorded a video to thank Trump for the pardon. They were left hanging in that case, but they didn't give up in their pursuit of Exotic's freedom.