The last legal issues for one of the main protagonists in the true crime documentary Tiger King, which fascinated a nation shut down by COVID-19 five years ago, will be settled in a South Carolina courthouse on Tuesday.
After entering a guilty plea in November 2023, Bhagavan Doc Antle faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for money laundering and exotic animal trafficking.Prior to Tuesday’s hearing in federal court in Charleston, the public was not given access to the specific sentence that prosecutors are requesting or any justifications offered by Antle’s lawyers for leniency.
In his investigation, three other people entered guilty pleas and were sentenced to probation or four months in jail.
The last real-life chapter in the Tiger King story is Antle’s punishment. Near the height of COVID-19 restrictions, in March 2020, the Netflix series made its premiere.
Joe Exotic, a private zookeeper and collector from Oklahoma, and Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida, were at the core of the show, which focused on conflicts between big cat traders and environmentalists.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, attempted to hire two different men to kill Baskin and is currently serving a 21-year federal prison sentence.
The documentary’s first season featured Antle, the owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, a private zoo, and its third season included Antle as its main character.
The Antle’s Zoo was notorious for charging hundreds or thousands of dollars to allow visitors to hold and pet infant animals, such as tigers, lions, and monkeys, who were still being bottle-fed. Clients could have films or pictures produced. On occasion, Antle would ride an elephant into excursions.
According to its website, Myrtle Beach Safari is still only available via reservation. Since his arrest in June 2022, Antle has been free on bail.The Tiger King series led to Antle’s federal accusations.
He sold or purchased tigers, lions, chimpanzees, and cheetahs without the required documentation, according to the prosecution. Additionally, they claimed that Antle laundered over $500,000 in a different operation that an informant had told him was being utilized to bring people into the country illegally to work.
Investigators claimed Antle was accustomed to having a lot of money that he could spend quickly.
As Antle indicated to the informant over the phone that a young chimpanzee could easily cost $200,000, the FBI listened in. The business window for private zookeepers is limited to a few years until the growing animals can no longer be handled safely, but they can charge hundreds of dollars for pictures of placid juvenile monkeys or other creatures.
The people won’t accept a check, so I had to get a monkey. They only accept money. What do you do, then? In court documents, Antle stated based on a phone call transcript.
Due to their involvement in Antle’s activities, two of his workers have already received sentences.
Andrew Omar Sawyer, who authorities claimed assisted Antle in money laundering, received two years of probation, while Meredith Bybee received a year of probation for selling a chimpanzee.
While charges against California rancher Charles Sammut were dismissed, Jason Clay, the owner of a private zoo in Texas, entered a guilty plea to illegal primate sales and was given a four-month prison sentence.
In 2023, Antle was also found guilty on four counts of wildlife trafficking related to lion sales in a Virginia court. He received a two-year prison sentence with a five-year suspension for good conduct. Two of the convictions were overturned by an appeals court, which held that Virginia law prohibits the sale of endangered species but not their acquisition.
During that same trial in Virginia, Antle was found not guilty on five counts of animal cruelty.
