“Tiger King” star Bhagavan “Doc” Antley is said to have been arrested by the FBI on Friday, and he should appear in court on Monday for money laundering.
Writes AP . news agency And the newspaper The Wall Street Journal – Both refer to unnamed sources.
The controversial feline profile is said to have spent the weekend in custody. According to the Wall Street Journal, the indictment carries a sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 – about 4.7 million crowns.
The indictment against the 62-year-old is expected to be officially announced during Monday US time, according to the Associated Press.
It is unclear how Antle will respond to the allegations.
He must be 21 years old
Slaughtered by Animal Welfare
In May, the international animal protection organization PETA – People Concerned with the Ethical Treatment of Animals – contacted the US Federal Tax Service.
They have requested an investigation into Antle’s charitable Rare Species, and claim that money from the fund also sponsors Antle’s commercial safari business.
It’s fitting that “Doc” Antle is behind bars after years of locking endangered animals in cages and using them for cute photoshoots. His legal troubles escalate after PETA warns of an apparent “charity scam,” and his terrorist regime against tiger cubs cannot be stopped fast enough, Deputy Administrator Debbie Meltzer of PETA’s CALE (Captive Animal Law Enforcement) division says in a statement prepared by the AP.
In Virginia, Antle has already been charged with, among other things, animal smuggling, where he is due to appear in court next month. He was previously convicted of similar charges in the same state, according to the Associated Press.
Plaintiff Netflix
Controversial
Antle owns the controversial Myrtle Beach Safari Zoo in South Carolina and had a major role in the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” starring gun-loving polygamous cowboy Joseph Allen “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage.
Maldonado Passage is serving a 22-year prison sentence for animal cruelty — and for trying to hire a hitman to assassinate animal rights activist Carol Baskin.
When Dagbladet gave an interview to Antle in 2020He went head to head with the documentary series that made him an international celebrity.
– It’s a scandalous and thrilling ride through the rivalry between Carol Baskin and Joe Exotic. “I was abandoned in the middle of it only because the facility we have is much bigger and more glamorous than theirs, and because it looks like the Ritz-Carlton,” he said via video chat.
In the series, various sources accuse him of killing tiger cubs when they reach an age when they are no longer cute, and dealing with them becomes more and more difficult.
There are silly statements that help create drama. All tiger cubs are of course important to us, everyone lives with us from cradle to death. Antley said that our tiger cubs only meet guests 1-2 hours a week, and the rest of the time they only live in a wonderful reserve.