A federal judge on Monday set a Jan. 28 resentencing date for “Tiger King” star Joseph Maldonado-Passage, after an appeals court found that the court used a prison range that was too high, records show.
The convictions against Maldonado-Passage, the zookeeper known as Joe Exotic who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in an attempted murder-for-hire plot, were upheld by the appeals court.
But the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July ruled that the advisory sentencing range should have been calculated at between 17 1/2 years and 21 years, 10 months and not the longer range used.
Maldonado-Passage was featured in the Netflix series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”
Also on Monday, the Justice Department announced a consent decree that will forever prevent another central figure of the show, Jeff Lowe, or his wife from ever again exhibiting animals.
July 16, 202102:01
Maldonado-Passage was convicted of twice hiring people to kill Carole Baskin, an activist who had criticized and sued his business, and in other crimes involving animals.
When the sentencing range was being calculated, the two murder-for-hire counts should have been grouped together because they shared the same goal, the murder of Baskin, the federal appeals court panel ruled.
Not doing so raised the guidelines range to a maximum of 27 1/4 years, it said.
A request for comment from Maldonado-Passage’s attorneys was not immediately returned Monday night.
Nov. 4, 202100:23
Maldonado-Passage has maintained his innocence and in 2020 asked for a pardon from then-President Donald Trump, which was not granted. In November Maldonado-Passage announced he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In the civil case involving the Lowes, they took over the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma that Maldonado-Passage once ran.
Animals were moved from there to Tiger King Park in Thackerville. Last year a judge ordered animals to be seized, citing poor care, and the Lowes agreed to give up all interests to the animals, the government said.
The consent decree as well as a summary judgment were entered on Dec. 23, the Justice Department said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
