The Joe Exotic case is the federal prosecution of former Oklahoma zookeeper Joseph Maldonado-Passage, who was convicted in 2019 on 21 counts, including two murder-for-hire charges tied to a plot to kill animal-rights activist Carole Baskin, and is serving 21 years in federal prison after a partial resentencing win on appeal. His direct appeals are effectively over: the Tenth Circuit affirmed his convictions, a motion for a new trial was denied and that denial affirmed in 2025, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case in March 2026. What remains open is a bid for a presidential pardon.
The Two Plots Against Carole Baskin
Baskin, the CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, had been a vocal critic of Maldonado-Passage’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, and the two were entangled in years of legal and personal feuds before the criminal case began.
The first scheme came in August 2017. Maldonado-Passage enlisted Allen Glover, an employee at the zoo, to travel to Florida and kill Baskin. He gave Glover a fake ID, a phone loaded with photos of Baskin, and a $3,000 cash down payment. Glover went to Florida but never carried out the killing. He later testified that he never intended to, telling jurors he used the money to “party on a Florida beach.”1Justia Law. United States v. Maldonado-Passage, No. 20-6010
The second attempt, in December 2017, is what sank him. Through a mutual acquaintance, James Garretson, Maldonado-Passage was introduced to a man called “Mark,” who was actually an undercover FBI agent. Maldonado-Passage offered $5,000 up front and another $5,000 on completion. He suggested buying a “clean pistol” from a flea market and identified a bike path Baskin used as the location. He said he would fund the payment by selling tigers. The FBI recorded the exchanges.1Justia Law. United States v. Maldonado-Passage, No. 20-6010
The 21 Federal Counts
A federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma returned a 21-count indictment. Two counts charged the use of interstate facilities to commission murder-for-hire under 18 U.S.C. ยง 1958(a), one for each scheme. The remaining 19 counts were wildlife crimes: eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine violations of the Endangered Species Act.2Fox 4 News. Joe Exotic Prison Tiger King New Evidence
The wildlife charges came out of three sets of conduct: killing five tigers at the zoo to free up cage space, selling tigers and lions to private owners and roadside zoos, and falsifying federal inspection records to disguise those sales as donations or exhibition transfers.3The Frontier. Joe Exotic Calls New Charges of Wildlife Trafficking, Tiger Slayings a Witch Hunt In April 2019, a jury convicted him on every count.4KCRA. Joe Exotic Story Attempted Murder for Hire Conviction
Sentence and Resentencing
In January 2020, the district court sentenced Maldonado-Passage to 264 months, or 22 years.1Justia Law. United States v. Maldonado-Passage, No. 20-6010 On appeal, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the convictions in July 2021 but found a sentencing error: the two murder-for-hire counts should have been grouped together under the federal sentencing guidelines because they shared a “common criminal objective,” namely killing Baskin. The panel vacated the sentence and sent the case back.
The Tenth Circuit also rejected the defense argument that Baskin should have been excluded from the courtroom as a potential witness. It held that she qualified as a crime victim under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act based on the emotional and financial harm she had suffered, and the trial judge was within his discretion in allowing her to remain.1Justia Law. United States v. Maldonado-Passage, No. 20-6010
On January 28, 2022, a federal judge in Oklahoma City resentenced him to 21 years, a reduction of one year. The defense had asked for far more, citing a recent stage-one prostate cancer diagnosis and an immune disease. Prosecutors pointed to a contraband cellphone recently found in his cell. Baskin told the court she remained fearful and that the Tiger King documentary had expanded his base of supporters, increasing the threat to her safety. Maldonado-Passage told the judge: “Please don’t make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free.”5NPR. Tiger King Joe Exotic Gets One Year Knocked Off His 22-Year Prison Sentence
The New-Trial Motion
In April 2022, his lawyers filed a 67-page motion for a new trial supported by 169 exhibits. It alleged that federal prosecutors had committed Brady violations by suppressing exculpatory evidence and that three witnesses, Allen Glover, James Garretson, and Lauren Lowe, had perjured themselves and colluded against him.6Oxygen. Tiger King Joe Exotic Accuses Prosecutors Perjury New Trial
The motion leaned heavily on Glover. In a September 2021 affidavit, Glover recanted key portions of his trial testimony and said he had committed perjury. He claimed that Jeff Lowe, who had taken over the zoo in 2016, “created the entire murder-for-hire plot from start to finish” and coached him on what to tell federal agents.7The Oklahoman. Tiger King Joe Exotic Wants New Trial Murder for Hire Case
In November 2023, the district court denied the motion without an evidentiary hearing. The judge found the arguments had “no connection to newly discovered evidence,” called the claims “underdeveloped,” and wrote that any new evidence was “incapable of overcoming the strong, credible evidence of guilt,” adding that “the most credible and damning evidence of Defendant’s intent was his own words.”8Yahoo News. Tiger King Joe Exotic Denied
The Tenth Circuit affirmed on July 9, 2025. It ruled that Maldonado-Passage had waived his challenge to the legal standard used by the district court under the “invited error” doctrine, because his own attorneys had urged the lower court to apply that standard. On the tiger killings, the panel pointed to his trial testimony admitting he killed the animals to save money and avoid veterinary euthanasia costs, conduct that did not qualify for the Endangered Species Act’s healthcare exception.9U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Order and Judgment, Case No. 23-6207 A petition for rehearing en banc was denied on October 1, 2025.
The Supreme Court Denial
Maldonado-Passage petitioned the Supreme Court through attorney Alexander Roots, arguing that “trial errors” warranted review and that “by denying any hearing and by refusing to evaluate the evidence as a whole, the lower courts departed from principles that safeguard every criminal prosecution in the Nation.” The petition also framed the prosecution as growing out of an “intense personal, litigation, operational, and even political, rivalry” with Baskin.10The Hill. Joe Exotic Murder Plot
On March 30, 2026, the Court declined to hear the case, rejecting the petition without even requesting a response from the federal government.11SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Tiger King Appeal That closed off his direct appellate options.
Where He Is Now
Maldonado-Passage is incarcerated at Federal Medical Center Fort Worth in Texas, with an expected release date of March 18, 2036.2Fox 4 News. Joe Exotic Prison Tiger King New Evidence He was diagnosed with what his attorney described as “aggressive” prostate cancer in November 2021 and sought compassionate release, arguing the prison system could not provide adequate treatment. His attorney at the time, John M. Phillips, said: “We can’t spend four months on him waiting to get treatment.”12BBC News. Joe Exotic Cancer Diagnosis
The cancer went into remission after chemotherapy and radiation, then returned and spread, and he has also been diagnosed with lung cancer. As of mid-2025, Maldonado-Passage, then 62, told reporters that outside doctors said he could live another 10 to 15 years with the cancer, and that he was refusing treatment in prison and intended to wait for release to seek care.13Yahoo News. Joe Exotic Prostate Cancer Returns
Pardon Requests
With his appeals exhausted, executive clemency is the last legal route left. In September 2020, during President Trump’s first term, Maldonado-Passage submitted a handwritten pardon request. Trump said publicly he would “take a look.” A later request to President Biden was unsuccessful. After Trump returned to office, Maldonado-Passage renewed the campaign, drawing public support from Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.14The Hill. Tiger King Joe Exotic Trump Pardon
When Trump pardoned reality television figures Todd and Julie Chrisley in the spring of 2026, Maldonado-Passage criticized the decision on social media: “I guess being innocent is not enough in America.” The Trump administration has not responded to his pardon requests.15People. Joe Exotic Calls Out Trump Pardon of Chrisleys While He Remains Behind Bars
The Parallel Civil Losses
The criminal case sits alongside a civil war Maldonado-Passage lost decisively. Before the murder-for-hire plots, Baskin and Big Cat Rescue sued him for trademark infringement after he adopted the name “Big Cat Rescue Entertainment” and used a logo nearly identical to their mark. The court found infringement, issued a permanent injunction, and ordered $953,000 in attorney’s fees and damages. Two additional copyright suits, including one involving a photograph used on more than 21 webpages to accuse Baskin of animal cruelty, added another $75,000. The judgments totaled more than $1 million.16Copyright Alliance. Your Tiger King Intellectual Property Questions Answered
To avoid paying, Maldonado-Passage transferred ownership of the zoo property to his mother, Shirley Schreibvogel. Baskin’s attorneys filed a fraudulent-transfer complaint in 2016. In June 2020, a federal judge ruled the transfer was fraudulent and awarded control of the Oklahoma property to Baskin and Big Cat Rescue, ordering Jeff Lowe to vacate within 120 days.17Time. Carole Baskin Lawsuit In June 2021, Big Cat Rescue sold the property for $140,000 with a deed restriction barring its use as a zoo for 100 years and prohibiting new owners from associating the land with “Tiger King,” Joe Exotic, or any big-cat-related branding.18Oxygen. Carole Baskin Sells Joe Exotics Former Zoo
A separate civil rights lawsuit Maldonado-Passage filed from prison, naming Garretson and others as defendants and seeking $94 million on perjury and malicious-prosecution theories, was voluntarily dismissed in August 2020.19The Oklahoman. Joe Exotic Drops Civil Rights Lawsuit