TIGER King star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle has been jailed for trafficking exotic animals and money laundering.
Antle, 65, was sentenced to one year and one day behind bars and fined $55,000 on Tuesday – two years after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
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Prosecutors said Antle sold or bought cheetahs, lions, tigers and a chimpanzee without the proper paperwork for a decade.
They said he also laundered more than $500,000 so he could quickly get cash to buy more animals.
Antle’s sentencing was heard in a federal courtroom in Charleston, South Carolina – five years after the true crime documentary Tiger King captivated a country shut down by COVID-19.
The show centred on dealers and conservationists of big cats, focusing on disputes between Joe Exotic, a collector and private zookeeper from Oklahoma, and Carole Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue in Florida.
Exotic is serving a 21-year federal prison sentence for trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin.
Antle appeared in the first season with Exotic and Baskin and was the star of the show’s third season.
Authorities said he laundered money used in a human smuggling scheme because he needed large amounts of cash quickly to buy animals, including chimpanzees, lions, tigers, cheetahs, and other creatures.
Prosecutor Patrick Duggan said: “These animals are illegal to sell because they are endangered, and their high prices could encourage poachers to steal them from the wild.
“He was knowingly and illegally trading them as part of a black market that drives another black market of poaching and smuggling.”
Customers would pay $200 for five minutes and photos with a baby chimp or $7,000 for a sleepover.
Antle would sometimes ride into tours on an elephant.
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Antle’s lawyers requested a sentence of just probation or home confinement, saying their client needed to care for the 150 exotic animals that consume 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) of meat a day at his Myrtle Beach Safari.
They said many of the animals only respond to Antle.
About 25 friends and family packed a federal courtroom in Charleston.
Several told Judge Joseph Dawson III that Antle was generous and caring.
They said he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight poaching and preserve wild habitats for tigers, lions and chimpanzees.
Federal guidelines called for about two years in prison, to which prosecutors agreed.
But Dawson said, although Antle broke federal law, all the evidence pointed to him caring for animals.
Antle apologized at the end of his sentencing hearing for causing problems for his life’s work.
“I made a mistake, I did stupid things,” Antle said, adding, “I hope I’ll be able to pull it back together for everybody.”
Antles’ Myrtle Beach Safari was known for charging hundreds or thousands of dollars to let people pet and hold baby animals like lions, tigers and monkeys that were so young they were still being bottle-fed.
The zoo remains open by reservation only.
