CNN photo
DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) — You know him as the Tiger King and Joe Exotic. At the federal prison and medical center in Fort Worth he’s simply known by his real name, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, and he’s afraid he will die in jail.
The Dallas Morning News reports the star of a massively popular Netflix documentary has asked President Trump to be pardoned and released from his 22-year sentence in a murder-for-hite plot and federal wildlife violations.
Lawyers filed 257 pages claiming the Oklahoma man was “railroaded and betrayed” by others, most notably his famous rival, Carole Baskin, whom he targeted for murder.
The appeal to the Department of Justice claims Maldonado-Passage is in poor health and will die unless he is released from prison and allowed “to correct the injustices he has experienced and to have the opportunity to return to providing meaningful contributions to his community.”
In a personal letter to President Trump, published by the Los Angeles Times, Maldonado-Passage asks the president, “Be my hero please… If I have ever looked up to anyone it would be you,” he continued. “Not because I need you to save my life but because you stand for what you beleive [sic] no matter what anyone thinks.”
Along with attempting to hire a murderer to kill Baskin the Tiger King was also convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.
While he waits to learn if Trump is sympathetic to his plea Carole Baskin is set to appear next week as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars.
