Tiger King star Joe Exotic's camp has celebration planned amid hopes President Donald Trump will pardon him from 22-year sentence in murder-for-hire conviction
Joe Exotic's camp is preparing for a possible pardon from President Donald Trump before he leaves office.
'This time tomorrow, we’re going to be celebrating,' Eric Love, a rep for the Oklahoma zookeeper, told Metro.co.uk Monday. 'We have good reason to believe it will come through. We’re confident enough we already have a limousine parked about half a mile from the prison.'
Love said that Exotic's camp is 'really in action mode right now,' with a 'whole unit that will come up' with make-up and wardrobe people ready for Exotic, whose story was told in the hit Netflix doc Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness last year.
The latest: A rep for Joe Exotic said the Tiger King star's lawyers have been in contact with officials from Washington D.C. in connection with a pardon for the reality star from outgoing President Donald Trump
'The first thing Joe wants to do, he wants his hair done,' Love said. 'He hasn’t had his hair done in two-and-a-half years. That’s the first order of business. Then we’ll probably go and get some pizzas, steak, maybe a McRib.'
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, who was sentenced in January 2020 in his native Oklahoma to 22 years in custody in connection with a 2017 murder-for-hire plot of his business archival Carole Baskin.
Authorities said Exotic in December 2017 attempted to bribe an FBI agent to murder Baskin, and was recorded saying, 'Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.'
Exotic was also convicted in connection with numerous wildlife law violations in the deaths of five tigers, and infractions of the Endangered Species Act.
Exotic's story was told in the hit Netflix doc Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
He was sentenced in January 2020 in his native Oklahoma to 22 years in custody in connection with a 2017 murder-for-hire plot of his business archival Carole Baskin
Love told the outlet he thinks Trump 'has sided with' arguments as to why to pardon the felon, and use the pop culture figure as a vehicle to 'take most of the limelight away from President-elect Joe Biden.'
Love said he and Exotic have worked on a video to send to Trump and his team if he should be pardoned.
'Last night, I shot a congratulatory video thanking Donald Trump so we have it queued up and ready to go,' Love said. 'As soon as we get the word, we’re going to execute that video to the White House and thank them.'
Pardon me: Trump is expected to grant around 100 pardons in his final days in office
In September, Exotic submit to authorities a 257-page report request to the U.S. Department of Justice for his pardon from Trump, snapped last month at the White House
In September, Exotic submit to authorities a 257-page report request to the U.S. Department of Justice for his pardon from Trump.
'Joseph is scheduled to be released from (Bureau of Prisons) custody in 2037; however, with his comprised health, he will likely die in prison,' his lawyers said in court docs. 'He humbly requests a pardon to correct the injustices he has experienced and to have the opportunity to return to providing meaningful contributions to his community.'
Trump on Tuesday is expected to release a list of more than 100 pardons and commutations, sources told Reuters. Trump is expected to leave office January 20, the day Biden is slated to be sworn in as the 46th president.
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