The United States Court of Appeals today upheld the conviction of Joe Exotic but ordered that he be resentenced.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was made famous by the Netflix docu-series Tiger King. He is currently in prison at the Federal Medical Center in Forth Worth, for charges of murder-for-hire and for federal wildlife violations related to endangered tigers that were shot to death at his Wynnewood, OK roadside zoo.
The Court of Appeals today ruled that Exotic should be sentenced concurrently for his two murder-for-hire charges, and they vacated his current sentence which was based on separate charges.
Exotics' current sentence was for 262-327 months in prison. His new sentencing guidelines will be for 210-267 months in prison, according to court documents.
The resentencing means that short of an appeal or a presidential pardon, Exotic will likely still serve the rest of his life in prison; an ironic fate for a man whose livelihood was afforded by imprisoning animals.
Full court documents:
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