5 years after the true crime documentary “Tiger King” captivated a rustic shut down by COVID-19, the ultimate authorized troubles for one in all its fundamental characters might be resolved Tuesday in a courtroom in South Carolina.
Bhagavan “Doc” Antle faces as much as 10 years in jail for trafficking in unique animals and cash laundering after pleading responsible in November 2023.
Precisely what punishment prosecutors are asking for and any arguments for leniency from Antle’s attorneys had been saved from the general public earlier than Tuesday morning’s listening to in federal courtroom in Charleston.
Three others who pleaded responsible in his investigation obtained both probation or a four-month jail sentence.
Antle’s sentence is the ultimate true-life chapter of the Tiger King saga. The Netflix collection debuted in March 2020 close to the height of COVID-19 restrictions.
The present centered on sellers and conservationists of huge cats, specializing in disputes between Joe Unique, a collector and personal zookeeper from Oklahoma, and Carole Baskin, who runs Large Cat Rescue in Florida.
Unique, whose actual title is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 21-year federal jail sentence for attempting to rent two totally different males to kill Baskin.
Antle, who owns a personal zoo known as Myrtle Seaside Safari, appeared within the first season of the documentary and was the star of the third season.
Antle’s zoo was identified for charging tons of or 1000’s of {dollars} to let folks pet and maintain child animals like lions, tigers and monkeys that had been so younger they had been nonetheless being bottle-fed. Prospects might have pictures or movies made. Antle would generally experience into excursions on an elephant.
Myrtle Seaside Safari stays open by reservation solely, in accordance with its web site. Antle has remained out on bail since his arrest in June 2022.
Antle’s federal fees had been introduced after the Tiger King collection.
Prosecutors mentioned he offered or purchased cheetahs, lions, tigers and a chimpanzee with out the right paperwork. And so they mentioned in a separate scheme, Antle laundered greater than $500,000 that an informant advised him was getting used to get folks into the U.S. illegally to work.
Antle was used to having massive quantities of cash he might transfer round shortly, investigators mentioned.
The FBI was listening to Antle’s telephone calls with the informant as he defined a child chimpanzee might simply value $200,000. Personal zookeepers can cost tons of of {dollars} for pictures with docile younger primates or different animals, however the revenue window is simply open for a couple of years earlier than the rising animals can not be safely dealt with.
“I needed to get a monkey, however the folks received’t take a test. They solely take money. So what do you do?” Antle mentioned in accordance with a transcript of the telephone name in courtroom papers.
Two of Antle’s workers have already been sentenced for his or her roles in his schemes.
Meredith Bybee was given a 12 months of probation for promoting a chimpanzee whereas Andrew “Omar” Sawyer, who prosecutors mentioned helped Antle launder cash, was given two years of probation.
Jason Clay, a Texas non-public zoo proprietor, pleaded responsible to illegally promoting a primate and was sentenced to 4 months in jail, whereas fees had been dropped in opposition to California ranch proprietor Charles Sammut.
Antle was additionally convicted in 2023 in a Virginia courtroom of 4 counts of wildlife trafficking over gross sales of lions and was sentenced to 2 years of jail suspended “upon five years of good behavior.” An appeals courtroom overturned two of the convictions, ruling that Virginia regulation bans the sale of endangered species however not their buy.
Antle was discovered not responsible of 5 counts of animal cruelty at that very same Virginia trial.
