Imprisoned 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic asks Trump again for a pardon
Joe Exotic, real name Joseph Maldonado, a star of the hit Netflix docuseries "Tiger King," is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for his disputed role in an alleged murder-for-hire plot against a co-star and rival.
On Wednesday, Maldonado asked President Donald Trump for a pardon that would have him released from custody without having to serve the remainder of his sentence, The Hill reported.
This is just the latest request from the reality TV star and former exotic zoo owner for a grant of executive clemency, who has been imprisoned since early 2020 and has repeatedly but unsuccessfully asked both Trump and former President Joe Biden for an extension of grace and mercy.
The "Tiger King" wants a presidential pardon
In an X post, Maldonado wrote, "I lost my appeal for a new trial today. The United States Government wants me to die in prison even though they know their witnesses were lying under Oath. In fact, their witnesses all admitted to perjury on world television on season 2 of Tiger King."
He went on to seemingly blame his initial conviction and failed appeal on his prior public defender attorneys, claimed that federal prosecutors had withheld exculpatory evidence, and accused the judge in his case of "many material inaccuracies" in the ruling, which has prompted his current attorney to seek an en banc review from the appellate court, followed by an appeal of his conviction to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
"The Department of Justice has been proven to be weaponized against people for personal agendas, just as it was against President Trump," Maldonado asserted.
He concluded his post by urging President Trump to "listen to" the voices of several Republican lawmakers, celebrities, and "the millions of people around the world to make this right and allow me to go home. 8 years of my life I have lost. My parents have died, and I have nothing left to show for 55 years of hard work."
Multiple requests for a pardon over the years
This is far from the first time that Maldonado has called upon President Trump to grant him a pardon, but the odds of that occurring seem increasingly unlikely, given the fact that the imprisoned reality TV star has been sharply critical of the president whenever other individuals have received clemency.
The Hill reported separately in May that the "Tiger King" lashed out against Trump in a series of social media posts after pardons were granted for Todd and Julie Chrisley, former reality TV stars who'd been convicted and imprisoned in 2023 on bank fraud and tax evasion charges.
"You are either rich and connected or your poor and being trafficked by the system," Maldonado said in one post, and wrote in another, "I guess being innocent is not enough in America. They all admitted to perjury on world television but yet I’m left to die of cancer before I can get any help."
Critical of both Trump and Biden for not granting his request
Maldonado was first sent to prison in 2020 after he was convicted of hiring a contract killer to murder Carole Baskin, a personal rival and co-star of the "Tiger King" docuseries, and he wasted no time in asking President Trump for a pardon at the end of his first term in office, followed by a similar request to former President Biden in 2021, both of which fell upon deaf ears.
He was further infuriated by the lack of any response from either president in January of this year, after Biden issued last-minute pardons to several high-profile government officials and members of his family, as well as Trump swiftly pardoning around 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants on the first day of his second term.
In a snarky social media post at that time, Maldonado mused, "If I was a crack dealer, maybe if I broke in the [Capitol] … or even have been related to the Bidens. I might have gotten some relief on being in prison innocent."
To be sure, Trump may surprise everyone and grant the requested clemency, but the hyper-critical track that Maldonado has taken with his grievance makes that outcome seem decidedly unlikely, at least at this point.