Joe Exotic of Netflix's Tiger King docu-series, which looked into the big cat business across America, was re-sentenced to 21 years in prison, just one year less than his original sentencing of 22 years handed down in January of 2020.
This comes after his team won an appeal regarding the specifics of his charges, after Exotic asked for reduced time due to health issues, and after the team asked then-president Donald Trump to pardon him personally.
Joe Exotic, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is to serve 21 years behind bars, just one year less than he was sentenced to in January of 2020.
He was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder-for-hire. He had also been convicted on eight counts for faking wildlife records and nine counts involving the sale and killing of tigers, an endangered species.
In that appeal, his attorneys argued that his two murder-for-hire convictions should be counted together rather than separately.
They argued that they should be counted together because they “shared a common criminal objective” and were part of the same “course of conduct."
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and is set to begin treatment soon, so he begged for some leniency in that regard.
Of course, neither he nor his team are pleased with the ruling. In a statement given to BuzzFeed News, Exotic's lawyer said, "We are unsatisfied with the court’s decision and will appeal."
As said in a statement that Exotic read to the judge, "You will see that I did not receive a fair trial. The truth was not told. I have lost enough in my life over this while the people who lied to you and the jury walk free."
Carole Baskin, activist and known enemy of Joe Exotic, told the judge that she still worried he may try to harm her should he be released, saying, "He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me," the Associated Press reported.
This also comes after Exotic's defense attorneys were certain that former president Donald Trump would issue him a pardon, but that never came to fruition.
h/t: BuzzFeed News
