Joe Exotic Resentenced: Tiger King Star to Leave Prison HOW Much Sooner?

Joseph Maldonado-Passage is better known as Joe Exotic, and perhaps best known as the titular star of Tiger King's first season. The first season, because he was sentenced to 22 years in prison over a murder-for-hire scheme and numerous animal abuses. Last year, as part of his ongoing fight to escape justice, Joe hired a new attorney to get him out of prison. On Friday, January 28, a federal judge issued a new sentence ... and Joe is getting out earlier than expected. Perhaps, when Joe wished to get out sooner, he wished on a cursed monkey's paw. In his case, a cursed tiger's paw. At the hearing in federal court on Friday, his sentence was amended from 22 years ... to 21. That's right: Joe Exotic's prison sentence was reduced by just one year. Joe had pleaded with the court for leniency. He will soon begin treatment for early-stage cancer. “Please don’t make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free,” Joe begged in court. Eyewitnesses from the courtroom described the disgraced former zoo owner as retaining his absurd mullet. However, the bleach-blond had faded from his hair, replaced with the 58-year-old's natural brown and gray. It is no surprise to hear that Carole Baskin and her husband, Howard Baskin, attended the hearing. After all, the initial murder-for-hire plot was targeting Carole, aiming to end her life and her activism. “He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me,” Carole expressed to the judge, fearing that Joe's release could endanger her life (again). Carole shared that even Joe's incarceration had not dulled his temper towards her. She informed the judge that she has continued to receive “vile, abusive, and threatening communications” over the past two years. Additionally, she fears that Joe could be even more threatening now that he has, unthinkably, fans. Sadly, some people do not employ critical thinking when watching Netflix documentaries ... or at other times. There were actual supporters of Joe Exotic, wearing shirts and displaying signs demanding that the criminal be freed. Joe's abhorrent crimes against animals and his plot to murder Carole apparently do not warrant prison time, in some people's eyes. Attorneys representing Joe informed the court that their client has been diagnosed with stage-one prostate cancer. Additionally, he reportedly has a disease that compromises his immune system. Both of these factors put him at added risk for COVID-19, to which he is especially vulnerable in the confines or prison. Joe had announced that he would delay treatment until after his resentencing. His attorney lamented in court that he is not receiving proper medical care within the federal prison sentence. Joe's time behind bars was characterized as a "death sentence for Joe that he doesn't deserve." We suspect that numerous people who are critical of the United States' lax penalties for animal cruelty would disagree about what Joe Exotic deserves. However, it is certainly true that many incarcerated Americans have been needlessly endangered during this pandemic. This is tragic, but not a reason to let out a dangerous and potentially murderous celebrity out to roam the streets, the court clearly perceived.