‘Tiger King’ Star Joe Exotic Optimistic About Being Released From Prison In 2025, Wants To Lecture At Universities

Joe Exotic, star of the hit documentary Tiger King, is hopeful about his release in 2025 after his legal team filed for a retrial, citing newly discovered evidence. 

Currently serving a 21-year sentence, the 61-year-old former exotic animal park owner has recently filed an appeal for a retrial, citing newly discovered evidence that could potentially overturn his conviction.

Rodger Roots, Joe Exotic’s attorney, stated his client is “hopeful and optimistic” about his chances in a recent interview with The Daily Mail. “He doesn’t seem to be depressed at all.”

He added that Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, has a “good chance” of being acquitted due to trial errors, calling the original case “prepped and scripted by the government.” Joe’s legal team believes if a new trial is granted, he could be acquitted within months. 

According to Roots, the initial trial was “fundamentally riddled with errors” that went to the “very heart of the accusations.” He also stated, “Had that evidence been known at the time, he would not have been convicted.”

“Joe’s one of the world’s foremost authorities on tigers,” said Roots, explaining that Joe hopes to work in higher education and give lectures based on his extensive experience with exotic animals. “I think he would like to speak and give lectures.”

Roots also clarified that Joe has no desire to return to the world of tiger exhibitions. “I don’t believe he has any intention or desire to get back into tiger exhibitions,” he said. “I think what he wants to do is become an educator and perhaps do some entertainment in the future.”

Joe Exotic was convicted in 2019 on multiple counts, including two for murder-for-hire aimed at his rival, Carole Baskin, as well as violations of the Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act. 

Before his arrest in 2018, the so-called “Tiger King” operated the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, also known as the G.W. Zoo and Tiger King Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, for 19 years.

In 2021, Joe’s attorney, John Phillips, filed a motion for a new trial, leading to the U.S. appeals court ruling that the two murder-for-hire convictions were incorrectly treated as separate. The result was a one-year reduction of Joe’s sentence from 22 to 21 years. 

That same year, Joe Exotic’s legal team was hopeful he would receive a presidential pardon, even arranging a limo for his release. 

However, the pardon never materialized, and Joe Exotic remained behind bars. The former reality TV star even recently begged Kim Kardashian to help him get a pardon.

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