Is Doc Antle in Jail? Plea, Sentence, and Virginia Case

Yes. Doc Antle is serving a federal prison sentence. On July 8, 2025, U.S. District Judge Joseph Dawson III sentenced the Myrtle Beach Safari owner and Tiger King figure to one year and one day in federal prison for wildlife trafficking and money laundering, and gave him 60 days to self-surrender to begin the term.¹²

What He Pleaded Guilty To

Antle pleaded guilty on November 6, 2023, to two federal conspiracy counts: conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and conspiracy to launder money.³ The pleas came out of a 10-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Florence, South Carolina, on June 30, 2022.⁴

Between September 2018 and May 2020, Antle directed the purchase or sale of two cheetah cubs, two lion cubs, two tigers, and a juvenile chimpanzee, all protected under the Endangered Species Act. He used bulk cash payments to conceal the deals and had paperwork falsified so that interstate transfers looked like non-commercial transactions inside a single state. He also routed payments through his nonprofit, The Rare Species Fund, disguising them as charitable donations.⁵ Prosecutors said the business reason was simple: paid guest encounters depended on docile young animals, and that docility lasts only a few years.⁶

The laundering count rested on a separate scheme between February and April 2022. Antle and co-defendant Andrew Sawyer moved more than $500,000 in cash they believed came from smuggling undocumented immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. They deposited the cash into accounts they controlled, wrote checks back to the person who had supplied it, and kept a 15 percent fee per transaction. The checks were written to look like payments for construction work at Myrtle Beach Safari.⁵

The Full Sentence

The July 2025 sentence imposed more than prison time. Antle received:

12 months and one day in federal prison
Three years of supervised release
A $55,000 fine
Forfeiture of three chimpanzees and more than $197,000 to the government

He was ordered to self-surrender within 60 days of sentencing.²¹

The Virginia Case Did Not Add Prison Time

Antle also faced a separate state prosecution in Frederick County, Virginia, tied to his purchase of lion cubs from Wilson’s Wild Animal Park in Winchester. The charges there included felony wildlife trafficking, conspiracy, and misdemeanor animal cruelty counts.⁷

At trial in June 2023, a jury acquitted him of five cruelty counts and a judge dismissed four more. The jury convicted him on two felony counts of purchasing endangered lion cubs and two felony counts of conspiracy. In November 2023, the circuit court imposed two years on each count, all concurrent and fully suspended on five years of good behavior, plus a $10,000 fine and a ban on owning or trading exotic animals in Virginia.⁸⁹ Because the sentence was suspended, the Virginia case did not put him behind bars.

Those convictions no longer stand. On June 4, 2026, the Supreme Court of Virginia dismissed all of the state indictments against Antle. In an opinion authored by Justice Teresa M. Chafin, the court held that Virginia Code § 29.1-564 prohibits only the sale or offer for sale of endangered species and does not criminalize purchasing them, and that the related conspiracy convictions could not stand because the underlying conduct was not a crime under the statute. “We must give effect to the General Assembly’s decision to omit the terms ‘purchase’ and ‘offer to purchase’ from Code § 29.1-564,” the court wrote.¹⁰¹¹

The Virginia ruling does not affect the federal case. The federal prison sentence out of South Carolina stands on its own.¹²

What’s Happening With Myrtle Beach Safari

Myrtle Beach Safari, the 50-acre for-profit zoo also known as The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), remains open as of mid-2026 and is taking reservations for tours three days a week. Antle’s son Kody Antle appears often in the facility’s promotional videos, though it is not clear whether he has formally taken over operations. Land records list Wildlife Preserve Land LLC as the owner, with Antle’s daughter Tilakam Watterson as the registered agent; the property was transferred to that entity in 2015 for a nominal $5.¹³

The licensing picture is less clear. The USDA confirmed that Antle’s personal exhibitor license was cancelled, and a license held by Sugriva Co. LLC, owned by one of his romantic partners, expired in October 2025. Neither Antle nor Myrtle Beach Safari appear to hold a current federal exhibitor license.¹³ PETA has asked the USDA to investigate, alleging that Antle continues to direct operations from prison. The USDA has said it is still conducting inspections to check Animal Welfare Act compliance.¹⁴

1
WBTW. Tiger King Co-Star Bhagavan Antle Gets Federal Prison Sentence
2
U.S. Department of Justice. Doc Antle, Owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, Sentenced for Federal Wildlife Trafficking and Money Laundering
3
WBTW. Doc Antle Pleads Guilty to Federal Conspiracy, Money Laundering Charges
4
U.S. Department of Justice. Doc Antle, Owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, and Others Indicted for Federal Wildlife Trafficking and Money Laundering
5
U.S. Department of Justice. Doc Antle, Owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, Pleads Guilty to Federal Wildlife Trafficking and Money Laundering
6
Courthouse News Service. Latest Tiger King Twist Finds Doc Antle Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Animal Trafficking
7
ABC News 4. Myrtle Beach’s Doc Antle of Tiger King Fame Charged With Animal Cruelty, Wildlife Trafficking
8
South Carolina Public Radio. Tiger King Star Doc Antle Convicted of Wildlife Trafficking in Virginia
9
Animal Law Info. Antle v. Commonwealth, 911 S.E.2d 195
10
Justia. Antle v. Commonwealth (Record No. 250174)
11
Virginia Lawyers Weekly. VA Supreme Court Reverses Tiger King Star Conviction
12
WMBF News. Virginia Supreme Court Throws Out Remaining Convictions for Myrtle Beach Safari Owner
13
Myrtle Beach Online. Myrtle Beach Safari Status
14
WPDE. Investigation: Doc Antle, Myrtle Beach Safari, PETA, Sugriva