Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Tiger King Sentence SLASHED?

Episode Date: July 21, 2021

A federal appeals court has ordered former zoo owner and “Netflix” star Joe Exotic to be re-sentenced for his conviction in a murder-for-hire plot. The “Tiger King” star — real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage — was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in a federal lockup for trying to hire two men to kill his nemesis, Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin. A three-judge panel in Denver’s Court of Appeals ruled that the original sentence was issued using the wrong sentencing guidelines. The judges found the trial court should have treated the murder-for-hire convictions as one since they both involved the goal of having Baskin killed. The proper sentencing range should have been between 17 ½ to just under 22 years, the panel wrote, not just under 22 years to 27 years in prison.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Darryl Cohen - Former Assistant District Attorney, Fulton County, Georgia, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, www.ccealaw.com Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Featured on "The Piketon Massacre: Return to Pike County" on iHeartRadio Levi Page - Crime Online Investigative Reporter, Host, "Crime and Scandal" True Crime Podcast, YouTube.com/LeviPageTV Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Bombshell. In the last days, Joe Exotic, aka Tiger King, has had his prison sentence technically vacated? The Tiger King may be out of prison sooner than expected. Head appeals court vacated Joe Exotic's sentence yesterday. John Phillips, the local attorney who represents him, says that this marks the start of justice. Exotic was serving 22 years in prison after

trying to hire two different men to kill Carol Baskin and wildlife violations, according to the investigation. It was found that the trial court, however, wrongly treated the two convictions separately when calculating his prison time. Phillips said that they shouldn't have been separated because they involved the same victim. Exotic has maintained his innocence. You know, I find that a little bit confusing. You were hearing Jennifer Waugh, WJXT News for Jax. Now, as you will recall, this was a multi-count indictment, including attempts to murder or hashing a plan to murder or threaten Carol Baskin, what he perceived to be his chief rival in the private zoo,

I guess you would call them, world. But there were also federal counts of mistreatment of animals, beatings, starving, shooting animals. It was a very complex indictment. So to you, Daryl Cohen, former prosecutor, now defense attorney with Cohen, Cooper, Eastep, and Allen. Daryl Cohen, what exactly is the reason a court of appeals is vacating Tiger King's verdict and, well, the sentence? Well, they're saying, Nancy, that two counts should not have been consecutive. They should have said the court should have only listened to one count. But let's be honest about this thing.

So they're going to vacate the sentence. He's going to be re-sentenced, and he's going to serve 85% of that time because it is a federal sentence. And he's going to wait for a long, long time. It doesn't really matter. Okay. According to court documents, the judge reaffirmed Exotic's conviction, but has sent the case back down just for sentencing. This is not a new trial. It is simply a re-sentencing. Darrell Cohen, I still don't understand your explanation of why he's being resentenced. Could you clarify? The court thought that the trial court boxcarded him or put one upon the other when they should have said,

no, just one count of attempted murder for hire. That's enough. And that's what brought it back to the court for sentencing. That's all. Right. So, Daryl, even though there were many, many counts in the indictment dealing with other crimes other than trying to kill Carol Baskin, I understand the appellate court, the district court District court judge said that the two murder for hire convictions, forget about all the mistreatment of animals, those two convictions merged because there was only one victim. That's kind of like saying, Daryl, I point a gun at you and pull the trigger and kill you. My aggravated assault, which is putting you in fear of immediate serious bodily injury or death. I can't be prosecuted for that.

Well, I can be prosecuted for that and murder, but I can't be sentenced on both because they merge. It's all one act. Exactly, Nancy. So it's not that big a deal. They'll come back. They'll be re-sentenced. He's going to get a whole bunch of time, a boatload of time. He'll serve 85% of it. And Joe is not going to be around to take care of or hurt any more animals or people. Joe Exotic was sentenced on January 22, 2020. He's been in jail for all this time. But from the very beginning, he's had a lot to say about the sentence. Take a listen to Brent Skarkey, KFOR, Oklahoma News 4.

Today my sentence was vacated, which we knew was absolute crap to start with. Joe Exotic on the phone from federal prison on the decision handed down on Wednesday by Judge Phillips of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Back in 2019, the infamous showman from the Winniewood Exotic Animal Park was convicted on two counts of murder for hire involving plots against fellow big cat handler Carol Baskin. He was also found guilty on 17 counts involving wrongdoing with his animals. In 2020, a federal judge then handed down a 22-year sentence for his crimes. But Joe Exotic appealed the decision and the sentencing. And on Wednesday, an appellate court sang, we affirm the conviction but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

What the 10th Circuit has said is we're not going to overturn the conviction. We're not saying the court made any erroneous rulings during the trial portion. But at sentencing, the court misapplied the meaning of some of the guideline rules. Those guidelines involve the two murder-for-hire convictions that were originally to be nine years each and served consecutively.

So, you know, I disagree with you on that point. Daryl Cohen says a new sentence will not be a big change. I think it will. It will take nine years off a 22-year sentence. Is that right? Joining me, Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter and host of Crime and Scandal True Crime podcast. Won't that take nine years off exotic sentence?

Yes, Nancy. What we're talking about is a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver, they said that the trial court treated those two convictions for attempted murder for hire separately when they sentenced him. They should have been grouped as one during the sentence. And the ruling says, quote, because those two convictions involved the same victim and two or more acts or transactions that were connected by a common criminal objective, they should not have been treated separately in the sentencing guidelines.

So those two sentences could have been grouped together, and that would shave some time off of Joe Exotic's sentence. Okay, let me understand. Daryl Cohen has got a 22-year sentence, and that includes a sentence for planning hatching a plot to kill Mask and his rival, but also on those mistreatment of animals. Nine years of that is going to be shaved off. Yes, no. Nancy, I think we're doing Shakespeare. I think you'll find it's much ado about nothing. Yes, they will shave nine years off, but I suspect when he is re-sentenced, all of the animal counts will be consecutive. That is, after one,

after the other, not running concurrent or at the same time. And I suspect he's going to get very similar amount of time that he's going to be serving in the federal system. And again, he serves 85 percent, 85 percent. There's no parole. Right. To you, Levi Page, what were the 17 other counts of animal cruelty? Yes. So in January 2020, the U.S. District Judge Scott L. Pock. He sentenced him to 264 months on the attempted murder for hire plots that he hatched that we've been talking about. But he also was facing charges for violating endangered species acts. He shot and killed five tigers. He also faked logs that said that he had a reason to euthanize them, that a veterinarian signed off on them. And he didn't. They were fake. A vet never signed off

on them. And employees testified during the trial that he would just shoot these tigers and other animals, including a hawk that's also endangered, to make room for other animals in the zoo. The saga of Joe Exotic, a.k.a. the Tiger King, seemed to subside once he was finally sentenced. Of course, the rising star of his rival, Carole Baskin, seemed to emerge. Take a listen to Amy Robach, GMA. As Carole Baskin dances in the ballroom, the family of her ex-husband, Don Lewis, filing a defamation lawsuit against the Tiger King star. I keep it inside and wait until everybody's gone before I can break down.

The family saying in the lawsuit, Baskin is currently appearing in Dancing with the Stars and is complicit with jokes about Don Lewis's death. For me, you didn't quite kill the Paso Doble. It was kind of sedated. Lewis's daughter is pushing for renewed attention on the disappearance of their father. Do you know who did this or if Carol Baskin was involved? Baskin has denied any involvement, but now a new docu-series, Joe Exotic, Tigers, Lies, and Cover Up is taking a deeper dive, exploring new theories about what may have happened to Don Lewis. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are talking about the new sentencing that Joe Exotic, a.k.a. the Tiger King, is going to get. An appellate court has reversed his 22-year sentence.

Nine years of that will be shaved off. But it may not be that simple because there were so many indictment charges, many of them dealing not with Carol Baskin, but the mistreatment of animals under his care. Shooting animals when he allegedly thought he could make more money off bringing in baby tiger cubs versus the older animals he had had for years, callous treatment of birds and other animals. It all came to a culmination in a court of law. This is while Carole Baskin dances her way to fame yet again on Dancing with the Stars. But there's more. A lot's been happening since Tiger King went to jail.

Take a listen to our friends at ABC Action News, our Cut 38. Retired Secret Service agent Jim Rathman has teamed up with television producer Teresa McEwen. There's so much more information that's going to come out over time. It's just there's so much it's overwhelming. In helping prepare an application asking President Trump to pardon Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado Passage. When I saw that article last night, you know, Trump has 100 people he's going to pardon. I'm thinking Joe's probably one of them, or so I hope.

257 pages for the pardon that made its way up to the White House. But what they've gotten recently is this new evidence. New evidence that may make its way all the way to the White House or warrant a brand new trial. Well, then we hear about the alleged pardon by former President Donald Trump. Take a listen to our cut 40. This is KFOR Oklahoma. Joe Exotic, you all know him. He's lashing out after not receiving a pardon from President Trump. In September, he wrote a letter to the president writing, be my hero, please. But today, Joe Exotic has a much different tone. A statement posted on his official Twitter account

reads, I was too innocent and too gay to deserve a pardon from Trump. I only mattered to Don Jr. when he needed to make a comment about me to boost his social media posts. Boy, were we all stupid to believe he actually stood for equal justice. His corrupt friends all come first, end quote. Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado Passage, is serving 22 years in federal prison

for a foiled murder-for-hire plot, along with wildlife charges. He still maintains his innocence. In the pardon application, Joe Exotic's attorneys wrote he was railroaded and betrayed by others. Okay, let me understand. Dr. Angela Arnold, psychiatrist joining us out of Atlanta, at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. Angie, what happens when you go behind bars? I think that you will grab onto anything.

And here he is claiming that he only mattered to Don Trump Jr. when he needed to boost, he, Trump needed to boost his social media posts, that he, exotic, was stupid to believe that Trump stood for equal justice. Wait a minute. This guy, exotic, shot animals, just shot them in the head and killed them when he wanted to bring in more lucrative baby tigers. He mistreated animals, multiple federal accounts, and hatched a murder plan against Carol Baskin. So why is he surprised he didn't get a pardon? This is not about Trump. This is not about Biden. It's not about politics. It's about exotic completely ignoring what he did to those animals.

Well, it's also about his grandiose view of himself, isn't it? Nancy, whenever someone thinks that a very figure is supposed to do something for them, for example, Trump pardoning him, that's grandiose thinking. Okay? He also thinks that he can get away with anything that he does. pardoning him, that's grandiose thinking, okay? He also thinks that he can get away with anything that he does. He thinks he's above everybody. So there is a grandiosity to what he thinks and does that none of us can understand. And it's not a mental illness.

It's more of a personality disorder. Okay? I venture to say he is a huge narcissist with very grandiose views about himself. That's why he can kill animals. That's why he can explain everything away because at the end of the day, he believes he's above the law. You know, to think that somehow he was going to get a presidential pardon. Oh, my goodness. You know, I want to go back to you, Daryl Cohen.

How hard is it to get a presidential pardon? Nancy, I think the word impossible is what we all think about. The number of presidential pardons is so minor, so insignificant in terms of the number of cases. It's unbelievable. And then you have to look at the type of case that the president would consider pardoning. Would Trump have pardoned him? Will Biden pardon him? My answer is unequivocally, no, no way. It's almost impossible. No, they are not going to touch this case with a 10-foot pole.

It will lead them nowhere but down. Now, I'm talking about his state of mind behind bars, not accepting that a jury has found him guilty, not just for threatening to kill Carol Baskin. And I don't mean an idle threat like, I'm going to kill you if you don't empty the trash. I mean a well-thought-out plan, hiring or arranging a hitman, picking out a location, making it possible for the hit to occur. Overt acts to make this a real plan, not just idle chat. He is ignoring all of that, pretending none of it happened, and now he's even coming up with a conspiracy that involves, guess who?

Carol Baskin. Take a listen to Our Cut 42. This is Kevin Frazier on ET. Carol and Howard Baskin said they would vow to help me get a pardon if I would support the Big Ten safety act. It is time for Carol and Howard to put up or shut the hell up

because I'm accepting their offer. Yeah, not so fast because there is still no love lost here. Joe Exotic broke his silence for the first time after Howard Baskin made this ultimatum to the mirror. Quote, if Joe were to come out and say, I would like to support passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, it might position him in a positive way for a pardon. And frankly, I might be willing to go and urge at least a reduction in his sentence. The Big Cat Safety Act, the way it's written, is not going to help anybody except PETA and Carol Baskin.

So other than that, they need to stay the hell out of the news with all their crap just to get their name in the paper because I just called their bluff. E.T. reached out to Carol who said they stand by their offer with one major caveat, quote, I wouldn't seek a reduced sentence for Joe based upon him just saying he'd help. He'd have to actually work with authorities to bring all of his buddies to justice and work with legislators to end cub handling.

Listen, if I live through this because my health is deteriorating by the day, we're going to turn this into something good. I stand for prison and justice reform. Now, when he says his health is deteriorating, this is what we're talking about. Take a listen to our Cut 44. This is Kevin Frazier, ET. Joe has been behind bars for two and a half years so far and claims the prison system is not adequately addressing medical issues. but we stopped doing that. I refused treatment for tuberculosis last week. My mouth is full of ulcers. I cannot eat. I look bad.

Despite all that, Joe says his husband of three years, Dylan Passage, is sticking by his side. Despite putting out a statement three weeks ago, they were seeking a divorce. The guy has been through hell, and he has stood by my side the entire time. We were talking about a divorce a few weeks ago so he could move on

and we talked about it some more and we decided to be married. He has told me over and over, if I make it out of here alive, I still have a home to come to. Yes, he'll make it out alive, but when? That's the big question.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, there has been announced there will be a re-sentencing for Joe Exotic. You know, I want to go back to Levi Page and bring in Joe Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and star of a new series, The Piketon Massacre, on iHeartRadio. Joe Scott, all those charges about animal cruelty, the charges that have nothing to do with Carol Baskin. What is the evidence, the forensic evidence that was introduced at trial to prove all those counts of truly mistreating animals in his care?

You know, Nancy, they went to great lengths to prove that he had, in fact, abused these animals over a protracted period of time. And there's actually some videography of that is videotape of him engaging in this cruelty. And one of the other things that you can kind of match up with this is the state in which these animals were kept at this place up in Oklahoma. Deplorable conditions that don't marry up necessarily with what the standard of care would be. And then, of course, you have what remained of the animals in eyewitness accounts relative to how he would behave. You know, Nancy, even in this series that I forced myself to watch, you can see him being cruel to animals many times. He'd put his hand on his pistol and start shouting at them and fire rounds up into the air and this sort of thing. So

it kind of goes to a bigger narrative with how he behaved around these animals, and they had enough physical evidence and documentary evidence to hang these charges on him. The exact charges in that federal indictment accusing Joe Exotic of mistreating animals, I believe, was proven over and over at trial, Daryl Cohen, because I believe the prosecutors were concerned about the sideshow that would end up happening if they focused too much on the hit on Carol Baskin. They had to prove a multi-count indictment independent of his attempts to kill Carol Baskin because those prosecutors knew the jury could focus on these animal cruelty charges and they would get a conviction. Well, Nancy, this is the way it works and it had to work. The prosecutors,

the assistant U.S. attorneys did exactly what they should have done. They focused on both. They knew that if they focused on the animals that people normally will close their eyes, close their ears, don't need to hear the evidence, you've hurt animals. And when you talk about exotic animals, animals that are on the endangered species list from time to time, the hawk that you mentioned, the tigers that were killed so that tiger cubs could come in. Juries will convict absent evidence. All you need to do is charge him. This is not a good guy.

This is a bad guy. And this is a guy who needs to be exactly where he is for the next however many years of his life that he has left to live. He should just exist as an incarcerated person. Nancy, can I add one more thing about the animal abuse? There is actual video of Joe Exotic beating baby tigers, pulling them by their tail, dragging them. There was a witness that said that he took a hawk, which is federally protected, put it in a trash bag alive, and then threw it in a dumpster to die. That he had cubs, baby bears, that he had go without water for an extended period of time in Oklahoma during the summer when the temperatures were about 100 degrees. The reality is, while he called himself Joe Exotic,

he lorded over a very popular exotic animal park out in Oklahoma. And during that time, according to prosecutors and according to a jury, Joe Exotic shot and killed five tigers, sold baby lemurs who are protected, falsified paperwork to say they were donated, and tried to pay a hitman thousands of dollars to murder Carol Baskin. He got sentenced to 22 years, but there's a problem with that sentence, according to an appellate court. I want to go back to, I think I heard Joe Scott Morgan breaking in regarding mistreatment of the animals. Yeah, Nancy, when you begin to think about these tigers, for instance, these are what are referred to as apex predators. I mean, they're at the top of the food chain. They require a huge amount of calories in

order to maintain the life, you know, a vital life that they live. These animals, you could even see in the videography that was, you know, that was in the show, these animals, some of these animals had their rib cages showing, they're deprived of food. And he was actually sending people out to go dumpster diving, if I remember correctly, and getting tainted food and this sort of thing. It requires quite a bit of food in order to just merely take care of the uptake of these animals day in and day out. And when you consider the vast number of these animals that he had, not to mention, you know, you had mentioned bears. There are other animals that are in this environment that are not meant to be there, certainly not to to indwell together. A Bengal tiger, for instance, just in and of itself has a vast range that it covers. Can you imagine taking these huge animals, plopping them all together,

and then they're having to fight for food? And that means that the weakest among them, there's a high opportunity that the larger, more stronger ones will kill the weaker ones, or at least starve them out. Think about it. First of all, let me give you an assignment, Levi Page. I need to know what the sentence was on each count at trial. What he got for Carol Baskin's attempted murder, hiring a hitman. I mean, he's on tape offering three grand to kill her, and then the rest after she's dead, telling him to do it on a bike trail, outlining where the best place was to kill her so he wouldn't be caught. There's those two charges, plus there's a multitude of cruelty to animal charges. How much does he get on each count? So when he's re-sentenced, I can figure out what that re-sentence is going to be

minus the nine years on the second Carol Baskin. To Dr. Angie Arnold, while Levi's looking that up, let's talk about the mentality. You're the psychiatrist. I'm just a trial lawyer. I'm someone that would take their pet and go, you know what, I'm going to just go shoot him in the backyard so I can get a new puppy. I'm tired of him.

He's not fun and funny anymore. What is that? Well, it shows, first of all, he's not attached to these animals. Okay, Nancy? And because he is a narcissist, these things are just part of his supply. And when he wants a new supply, it doesn't mean anything to shoot him or a human being in the head and get rid of them and go get a baby that can be his new supply. Okay. And this is narcissistic personality disorder on absolute steroids. These are not narcissistic tendencies. He is a narcissist through and through. If anyone wants to know

what a narcissist is, they should study this man. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about a possible re-sentencing on Joe Exotic. A PETA eyewitness investigation reveals sick, injured, and dying animals were denied vet treatment. They were denied humane euthanasia. Animals were kicked, starved, blasted with pressurized hoses and fire extinguishers, and beaten, beaten with the blunt end of a gun. Now, he got a nine-year sentence for each of his two murder-for-hire convictions and four years for crimes against wildlife. That included trafficking in endangered species like lemurs,

killing tigers to make room for more tigers that were more lucrative, i.e. baby tigers. So all in all, Levi Page, I'm trying to decipher what I think is going to happen at the new sentencing. So did all of the animal endangerment sentences run concurrent or at the same time as the murder for hire charges? There were, I think, four animal cruelty charges. I just pulled up the Department of Justice press release on the Senate. Wonderful. Tell me. So he was sentenced to two 12 months on each count for the Endangered Species Act violation,

and they ran concurrently to each other until all other counts. And he was sentenced to 48 months on each of the Lacey Act violations to run concurrently with all the other, but consecutive to the two murder-for-hire counts. Okay, that changes things, Daryl Cohen, because everybody, Daryl Cohen and I have both argued many, many sentencings before judges. So let's break it down and make it simple, Daryl. All of the animal cruelty charges, all of them are encompassed in a 48-month sentencing. Okay?

48 months. We're talking about four years. Then you have the two nine-year sentences. So the best he can hope for is nine plus four, which is 13 years as opposed to 22. And he will do 85% of those 13 years. Now, that's my analysis of what's going to happen. What do you think? I think, Nancy, that what was concurrent before will become consecutive.

And I think the judge will see. It's a definite maybe. I disagree. I don't think he can touch what he's already done. The judge already sentenced four years on the animal counts and nine years consecutive on the murder. I don't think he can

touch the animal counts. I think all he can do is get rid of the nine years. So, 85, I'm doing my math, 85 percent of 13, I guess you've already figured it out, Joe Scott Morgan. I've got 1105. It's 85 percent of 13. I guess you've already figured it out, Joe Scott Morgan. I've got 11.05. It's 85% of 13.

So 11 years, and he's already done, what, two years? Yeah. Three? Yeah, I think closer to three. He's looking at being out in eight years. Yep. Mm-hmm. That's what I'm seeing.

Guys, a lot has changed behind bars for Joe Exotic. Now, take a listen to Our Cup 43. This is Scott Jones and Tara Bloom at Fox 59. Joe Exotic is looking for love. And he's having a competition to get it. He's allegedly getting his own dating show called The Bachelor King. That should be good. There aren't many details, but men 18 and

older can fill out an application online to possibly be the next love of Joe's life. That's right. It wouldn't be Carol. One thing that might get in the way is Joe's 22 year sentence after being found guilty in a murder for hire plot, which is all detailed in the wildly popular Netflix show. So he's going to be in prison until 2042. There's also the fact he's still married to Dylan passage. However, passage announced back in March on Instagram that they are getting a divorce. Okay.

Is this true? Levi page is he starting a reality show? That's what he wants. We'll see if that happens. We know that he's tried to cash in on his notoriety. At one point he was selling underwear with his picture on it. Okay, can we talk about that for just one moment? What do you mean he's selling underwear with his picture on it?

He was selling men's underwear. People could purchase it, and it had his picture on the front of them. And he also has a new cannabis line that he is trying to cash in on as well. You mean pot? Yes. Guys, take a listen to our cut 4040, our friends at Crime Online. It seems like the public just can't get enough of Tiger King star Joe Exotic. His line of designer underwear, some sporting his face over the groin area,

sold out immediately when it launched earlier this month, raking in $50,000 in online sales. The top seller in his revenge collection with O'Dangerous appears to be the limited edition Casket Basket and Boxer Brief, which depicts blood red ice cream in a cone. Let's listen to part of the ad. Seeing your husband, boyfriend, fiance in and those nasty tighty-whities, or them droopy boxer doors, have I got the product for you today.

Jazz them up and get them on your wild side with exclusive Tiger King underwear. And they are everywhere. Oh, Dangerous just put up three billboards in Mexico pushing the revenge collection. Now, wait a minute. Levi Page, you kind of poo-pooed it, but the underwear sold out, Levi. Yeah, I think we have Netflix to thank for that, Nancy. Tiger King was one of the most downloaded shows in the history of Netflix. So, Darrell Cohen, speaking of the resentencing, which is why we are all here today, I believe it's going to be 11.05 years.

Do you have a different interpretation? I do. I think the judge is going to resentence him as to the animal counts, and I think they're going to go consecutive. But you and I agree that he's going to serve at least 11, and I think it'll be in the 13 to 15 year range. It won't be the 22 year sentence, but I think it will be more than what he originally got on the animal counts. We'll see. So for those of you just joining us, there's no doubt about it in my mind. Joe Exotic is going to get a reduced sentence thanks to a missed sentence by the trial judge regarding the murder for hire plot joe exotic hatched to kill his rival carol baskin take a listen to laurie tucker w-a-t-e-6 it was a show that swept the nation while we were all inside due to COVID, many people learned about Joe Exotic in Netflix's hit docuseries Tiger King.

If you watch the show, you already know he's in jail, but now he's getting resentenced. Well, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Oklahoma has dropped the murder-for-hire sentence for Joseph Maldonado Passage, also known as Joe Exotic. Now, according to new court documents, the court upheld the guilty verdict but says he was not sentenced correctly. They say the court says that Joe Exotic must be re-sentenced. However, he will not be released from prison. In January of 2020, Passage was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a murder for a higher plot. Federal prosecutors say he schemed to have

prominent animal rights activist Carol Baskin killed. So far, there's not been a date set for the resentencing. If you doubt the jury verdict, take a listen to our friends over at Netflix. This is our Cut 6. And then Jeff Lowe goes to Good Work and shows a bike path right by Big Cat Rescue and stuff. And he's like, oh, you get to sit right here and then shoot her while she's riding a bike. So Jeff Lowe knew more about the schematics than anything. That was because I was the only one smart enough to bring up a picture on Google Earth and show it to Travis.

Travis says, I can shoot it from there, I can shoot it from there. And Joe's like, you're not shooting it because you're my husband and you'll go to jail forever. I look back and my best man is my own business. Because none of that's on my computer. It's on Jeff Lowe. But Jeff Lowe's had time to remove that all from his computer now. Joe talked about killing this woman. If it wasn't a daily basis, it was definitely every week.

Well, the bitch still lives another day and says, I'll find somebody. He just wasn't shy about it. Not shy at all. Take a listen to more. Joe brought it up several times. I know anybody can kill the lady. I just put it off as, you know, bullshit. I came into the office one day and he's like, I got this crossbow.

You can use this on her nature trail wherever she walks. You can shoot her with this and nobody would ever see you. I'm like, what the fuck? I can see me walking around Florida with a camouflage suit on. Okay, but a crossbow? Give me a break. Alan Glover, he's an old-time employee of Jeff. Jeff knows him real well.

Supposedly, since he has a teardrop tattoo, he's killed somebody before. Well, Joe came to me one day, just out of the blue. He says, you think Alan could kill somebody? I said, is he capable of it? He said, of course, who's not? I said, I'll cut his head off for you if you want. And he was all into that.

I said, would you like me to bring it back? No, no, get rid of it in the swamp. I'm like, Okay. Will do. Reams and reams of evidence and testimony came before that jury. They concluded Joe Exotic, aka the Tiger King, planned a hit on his rival, Carol Baskin. Now, whether you like Baskin or hate Baskin, whether you believe she murdered her own husband or did not, what about all the animal cruelty charges? We wait for that resentencing and we wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace Crime Story signing off. Goodbye, friend.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Grace Crime Story signing off. Goodbye, friend.