United States

1963-03-05

Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, better known by his stage name Joe Exotic, is an American former zoo operator and convicted felon. The former owner and operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (aka GW Zoo) in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, Joe Exotic had claimed to be the most prolific breeder of tigers in the US. Before working with animals he was a police officer and briefly served as the chief of police in Texas. He twice unsuccessfully ran for public office, first for President of the US in 2016 as an independent, and then for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018 as a Libertarian. In 2019, Joe Exotic was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse (8 violations of the Lacey Act and 9 of the Endangered Species Act) and 2 counts of murder for hire, for a plot to kill Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin. He is now serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison. In 2020, Netflix released an eight-part documentary, "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness," focused on Joe Exotic, his zoo, and his feud with Baskin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Exotic