By John Smith • Published: 02 Jun 2020 • 17:51
Special Tiger King campaign bus outside the White House Credit: Twitter
JOSEPH ALLEN MALDONADO-PASSAGE, better known as Joe Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of trying to hire someone to kill rival animal park owner Carole Baskin who accused him of cruelty.
The certainly eccentric Exotic who has hand reared tigers in his Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma shot to fame as the subject of a highly popular Netflix documentary Tiger King as well as appearing on UK TV in a special filmed by Louis Theroux.
He gifted the animal park to former business partner Jeff Lowe and his mother several years ago but now a judge has ruled that the transfer was improper and has confirmed that Baskin who is owed a significant some of money due to Exotic’s copyright infringement may take the land over.
Lowe has been given 120 days to hand the land over to Baskin and to remove all of the animals from the site but as it was widely believed that for years the park had been facing financial difficulty, the eventual fate of the animals must be a moot point.
The only possible saving grace is that it has been announced that Nicholas Cage will play Exotic in a new scripted version of the documentary and it may be that there will be some financial benefit to help the animals.
In the meantime, supporters have been appealing to President Trump to grant a pardon to the Tiger King.
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Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
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