Zookeeper who killed tigers and tried to have rival murdered is sentenced to 22 years in prison

An Oklahoma zookeeper and big cat dealer was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years in federal prison for plotting to have a rival murdered and for more than a dozen wildlife violations, including the killing of five tigers.

Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, was convicted in April on 19 federal charges that brought an end to a two-decade career as a zoo owner, exotic cat breeder, traveling showman, TV host and aspiring politician. Along the way, he became embroiled in a bitter public and legal feud with a Florida animal sanctuary founder and animal rights activist. An Oklahoma City jury found him guilty of twice trying to hire hit men to kill the activist.

One of the men Maldonado-Passage tried to commission was an undercover agent for the FBI, which was investigating the zookeeper along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Maldonado-Passage was also convicted of illegally selling or attempting to sell tigers without a federal permit.

Maldonado-Passage’s week-long trial was a highly unusual federal prosecution of endangered species violations involving captive animals and the first related to captive tigers. It exposed basic gaps in oversight of large, dangerous predators that remain spottily tracked.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/01/22/joe-exotic-zookeeper-sentencing/