T.I.G.E.R.S

Tiger and cheetah cubs are featured during a tour at the Myrtle Beach Safari. File photo 

A Florence Grand Jury has indicted Myrtle Beach Safari owner Bhagavan “Doc” Antle of Tiger King fame on wildlife trafficking charges.

Authorities accused Antle and others of trafficking threatened and endangered wildlife in violation of the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act, according to the indictment. The government is also seeking forfeiture of property used in the alleged crimes if the defendants are convicted. 

Antle’s employee and business partner Moksha Bybee was also indicted, as well as Andrew John Sawyer of Myrtle Beach, Charles Sammut of Salinas, California, and Jason Clay of Franklin, Texas. 

Sammut owns and operates Vision Quest Ranch in California, a for-profit corporation that housed captive exotic species and sold tours and safari experiences to visitors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Clay owns and operates the Franklin Drive Thru Safari in Texas, which is also a for-profit corporation that housed captive exotic species and sold tours and safari experiences, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The indictment alleges that Antle, Bybee, Sammut and Clay illegally trafficked wildlife in violation of the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act and made false records for the animals involved, which included lemurs, cheetahs and a chimpanzee.

The indictment also accuses Antle and Sawyer of laundering more than $500,000 in cash that they believed were proceeds of human trafficking operation. The laundering was detailed in an affidavit filed with the court in early June. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Antle used the bulk cash receipts to purchase animals for which he could not use checks, and planned to conceal that cash by inflating tourist numbers at the Myrtle Beach Safari. 

Antle and Sawyer each face up to 20 years in federal prison for money laundering, and up to five years in federal prison for the wildlife trafficking charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Bybee, Sammut and Clay each face up to five years in federal prison for wildlife trafficking. 

According to the indictment, Antle and Sammut trafficked red ruffed lemurs “knowing that the wildlife had been transported and sold in violation of federal law, specifically the Endangered Species Act.” 

Antle and Bybee created a “false record, account, label, and identification” of two juvenile cheetahs, and then transported the cheetahs “in interstate commerce in the course of commercial activity,” the indictment states.

Antle and Clay created “a false record, account, label, and identification of” a juvenile chimpanzee and then transported the chimpanzee “in interstate commerce in the course of a commercial activity,” according to the indictment.

In the indictment, authorities said the government will seek forfeiture, upon conviction, all fish, wildlife and plants that were illegally imported, exported, transported, sold, acquired or purchased, all vessels, vehicles, aircraft and other equipment used to aid in any such offense, and to the extent the property isn’t available, “a sum of money equal to the total value of the property.” 

The government said if the property has been sold or transferred to a third party, has diminished in value, co-mingled with other property or is out of the jurisdiction of the court, the defendants if convicted “shall forfeit substituted property...” 

Antle and Sawyer were both already granted bond by a federal magistrate judge as a result of the charges in the federal complaint. Derek Shoemake with the U.S. Attorney's Office said Antle will be summoned to the court and likely granted bond. 

Shoemake said the other defendants will also appear via summons, except Clay, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued.

Doc Antle and his daughter, Tawny Antle, are also facing charges in Virginia under the endangered species act, and Doc Antle is also facing a charge of wildlife trafficking in connection with that case.

Reach Christian by email or through Twitter and Facebook with the handle @ChrisHBoschult. 

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