A federal judge in Oklahoma City resentenced Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King,” to 21 years in prison as the ex-zookeeper continues his battle against cancer.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, will have his initial sentence reduced by one year with the new sentence, according to a report.
“Please don’t make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free,” he said as the judge levied the sentence for the charge of murder-for-hire.
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Maldonado-Passage, 58, was convicted of the charge and found guilty of hiring someone to murder Carole Baskin, an animal activist, with the story gaining notoriety through Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.
Baskin attended the hearing and said she feared Maldonado-Passage, donning an orange jumpsuit and iconic mullet, would threaten her, the report noted.
“He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me,” she said before the judge.
In the two years since his conviction, Maldonado-Passage has persistently sent “vile, abusive and threatening communications,” according to Baskin.
Attorneys for the Tiger King star argued his stage one prostate cancer has compromised his immune system, making him vulnerable to the coronavirus, according to the report.
A two-decade prison sentence is a “death sentence for Joe that he doesn’t deserve,” said Amy Hanna, his attorney.
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Despite the conviction and new sentence, Maldonado-Passage maintains his innocence and denies the charges against him.
