A federal judge has re-sentenced Joe Exotic of Netflix's 'Tiger King' fame to 21 years in prison on Friday, reducing his punishment by one year.
According to Variety, the updated sentencing comes after Exotic had begged the court for leniency as he begins treatment for prostate cancer.
The former zookeeper, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder-for-hire for the plot to kill animal welfare activist Carole Baskin.
Both appeared as archenemies in the Netflix docuseries 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness'.
The re-sentencing on Friday came about after a federal appeals court ruled last year that the sentence Exotic is serving on the murder-for-hire conviction should be shortened.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Maldonado-Passage's attorneys told the judge their client is suffering from stage-one prostate cancer, along with a disease that compromises his immune system, making him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Stage-one prostate cancer means it has been detected early and hasn't spread. Maldonado-Passage previously said that he planned to delay treatment until after his resentencing. Federal officials have said Maldonado-Passage will need up to eight weeks of radiation treatments and would be unable to travel during the treatments.
His attorney Amy Hanna told the judge he's not receiving the proper medical care inside the federal prison system and that a lengthy prison sentence is a "death sentence for Joe that he doesn't deserve."
In January 2020, Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison after he was convicted of attempting to hire two different men to kill Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida and has been publicly outspoken against Exotic's animal abuse.
Prosecutors said Exotic offered an undercover FBI agent USD 10,000 to kill Baskin. In a recorded meeting from December 2017, Exotic told the agent, "Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off." Exotic's attorneys insisted he was not being serious.
Baskin, who attended the proceedings with her husband, said she was still fearful that Exotic could threaten her. "He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me," she told the judge.
Baskin said even with Maldonado-Passage in prison, she has continued to receive "vile, abusive and threatening communications" over the last two years.
She told the judge she believes Maldonado-Passage poses an even more serious threat to her now that he has a larger group of supporters because of the popularity of the Netflix series.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Maldonado-Passage, who maintains his innocence, also was convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.
( With inputs from ANI )
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