Attorneys: Joe Exotic of ‘Tiger King’ wants new trial
Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic (SRCSO photo)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Joe Exotic of "Tiger King" fame has found new attorneys who say they plan to file a motion for a new trial in a matter of months.
Joe Exotic, whose real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in federal prison for violating federal wildlife laws and for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting his chief rival, Carole Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida. Baskin was not harmed.
Maldonado-Passage’s new attorneys, John Phillips and Amy Hanna, plan to file a motion for a new trial in federal court in Oklahoma once the appeals process wraps up in a month or two, Phillips said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Phillips, who is based in Jacksonville, has previously represented former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman in a public brawl with President Donald Trump.
"This isn’t our first rodeo, so to speak," Phillips said.
Maldonado-Passage had previously been represented by federal public defenders in the Oklahoma case.
He was hoping to receive a pardon before President Trump departed the White House earlier this year, but didn't receive one.