'Tiger King' Joe Exotic resentenced to 21 years in prison for murder-for-hire charges
An Oklahoma City federal judge Friday again sentenced Joe Exotic to two decades in prison.
The re-sentencing came after an appeals court said there was an error the first time around. He received a 22-year sentence that time. On Friday, he received a 21-year sentence.
At his court appearance on Friday, Joe Exotic looked older, with longer, grayer hair. In other ways, he was the same. He gave a similar speech to the judge, and his lawyers say they’re going to free him.
But that will be a fight for another day.
U.S. District Judge Scott Palk presided over a packed courtroom to re-sentence Joe Exotic to fix what an appeals court found was a legal error.
His sentence was reduced by a year.
Joe Exotic — whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — was convicted in a murder-for-hire case involving animal welfare activist Carole Baskin. Both were featured in Netflix’s "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."
"Whatever I get sentenced (to) is a death sentence to me. I’m asking for a second chance at life," he told the judge.
Prosecutors say Maldonado-Passage tried to hire two people — including an undercover FBI agent — to kill Baskin, who’d criticized his treatment of animals. But Maldonado-Passage’s attorneys said he wasn’t being serious. Baskin attended the sentencing in Oklahoma City.
Last month, attorneys said Maldonado-Passage was delaying prostate cancer treatment until after his re-sentencing. His legal team has argued that the two counts against him should have been combined, which would have lowered his overall sentence by more than four years.
Baskin made the trip to Oklahoma for the proceeding. She told the judge she feared him more now than when he was first sentenced.
She said she thought the judge was fair.
Joe Exotic's lawyers say the fight will continue.
"They wanted to get rid of Joe. People wanted rid of Joe, and they won. For now," said John Phillips, one of his attorneys.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.