'Tiger King' star Doc Antle gets prison time for trafficking endangered animals
Bhagavan "Doc" Antle pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in federal prison and three years of probation, according to a Department of Justice press release on Tuesday, July 8. Antle, 64, also must pay a $55,000 fine and forfeit three chimpanzees and nearly $200,000 to the government.
Prosecutors say Antle laundered over $500,000 in cash tied to an operation smuggling Mexican immigrants across the U.S. border. Officials described the operation as "unlawful and unethical," saying Antle and others falsified records, funneled transactions through nonprofits and purchased and sold newborn endangered species, including baby chimpanzees, cheetahs, lions and tigers, "all while promoting themselves as conservationists," Adam Gustafson, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said.
'Tiger King' star pleads guilty to conspiring to money laundering, breaking federal law
Two men involved in the operation, Jason Clay and Andrew Sawyer, have also been sentenced. One woman, Shaylynn Kolwyck-Peterson, pleaded guilty in June for illegally selling Antle a chimpanzee for $200,000.
The Myrtle Beach exotic wildlife safari still appears to be open, but only by reservation.
Antle's safari was featured in the hit 2020 Netflix series and a brief 2021 spinoff, "Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story."
'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic is married: 'Meet my husband'
"Tiger King" also made a star of Joe Exotic, born Joseph Maldonado. He was similarly convicted of crimes involving his animals, as well as hiring hitmen to kill his chief critic, Carole Baskin, and is serving a 21-year prison sentence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Actor son of murder-suicide victim issues stepdad funeral plea
An actor whose mother was the victim of a murder-suicide in France has urged her friends not to attend his stepdad's funeral. Callum Kerr, who appeared in Hollyoaks and Netflix's Virgin River, said it would be "inappropriate" for the memory of his mother, Dawn Searle, to be associated with her husband Andrew Searle. The couple's bodies were discovered by a neighbour at their country home in the Aveyron region on 6 February. The prosecutor in charge of the case previously told the BBC it was murder followed by suicide and there was no evidence that another person was involved. The statement, issued on Kerr's Instagram account on behalf of the actor and his sister Amanda, comes more than six months after the couple were found dead. It is unclear why it has taken so long for Mr Searle's body to be released by the French authorities or when his funeral is scheduled to take place. Deaths of British couple in France treated as murder-suicide Actor's grief after mum and husband die in France French prosecutors confirm how British couple died Mr Kerr, who is also a country singer in the US, and his sister said that while the investigation into the deaths was ongoing they "cannot ignore the circumstances as they stand". The statement continued: "For this reason, we must respectfully but firmly request that our mother not be included in any way in the funeral arrangements being made for Andrew." They urged friends of their mother's not to attend the ceremony and asked people not to share photographs of Mr and Mrs Searle together. The statement concluded: "It would be inappropriate for her memory to be associated with a service honouring the man who, based on all available evidence, may have been responsible for her death. "We ask for understanding, privacy and respect as we continue to grieve and seek justice for our mum." Mrs Searle's body was found in the garden of the couple's property in the hamlet of Les Pesquiès, with severe wounds to her head. Mr Searle's body was found inside their home, about an hour north of Toulouse. Police were alerted to the incident by a neighbour who had gone to check on them when they failed to turn up for a planned dog walk. Post-mortem examinations confirmed Mrs Searle suffered "multiple blows to the head with a blunt and sharp-edged object" while Mr Searle died from hanging. Mrs Searle, 56, grew up in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, and Mr Searle, 62, was originally from England. They previously lived in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, and married in France in 2023. Prosecutors said they had lived in the Aveyron region for five years. According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Searle previously worked in financial crime prevention at companies including Standard Life and Barclays Bank.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Top Oversight Democrat: DOJ plan to release Epstein files in ‘batches' a ‘cover-up'
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said the plan for the Department of Justice to respond in 'batches' to the committee's subpoena for files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein amounts to a 'cover-up.' 'Releasing the Epstein files in batches just continues this White House cover-up,' Garcia said in a statement Tuesday. 'The American People will not accept anything short of the full, unredacted Epstein files.' Garcia's statement came as the clock struck noon Tuesday, the deadline for the Department of Justice to turn over documents and communications relating to the 'Epstein files' pursuant to an Oversight panel subpoena issued earlier this month. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the panel, said Monday \the DOJ was going through the material, but it would take time to ensure 'identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted.' He said the DOJ would begin to give the committee records pursuant to the subpoena on Friday. 'In a bipartisan vote, the Committee demanded complete compliance with our subpoena,' Garcia said in the statement. 'Handpicked, partial productions are wholly insufficient and potentially misleading, especially after Attorney General Bondi bragged about having the entirety of the Epstein files on her desk mere months ago.' Comer issued the subpoena to the DOJ pursuant to a Democratic-led motion in a subcommittee in July to seek the 'full, unredacted Epstein files,' which passed with support from three Republicans on the panel. In that same subcommittee meeting, Republicans offered a successful motion to subpoena a swath of former federal officials in the Epstein probe, including former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and several former attorneys general and FBI directors. The first of those depositions occurred Monday when former Attorney General Bill Barr, who held the job in President Trump's first term, spoke to the panel. Comer told reporters on Monday that Barr testified he did not know of any information that would implicate Trump. Garcia, though, said Barr during his deposition 'could not clear President Trump of wrongdoing,' calling on Comer to release the full unedited transcript of Barr's deposition to the public. 'We will keep pressing until the American people get the truth — every document, every fact, in full,' Garcia said. 'The administration must comply with our subpoena, by law.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC Sports
3 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Way breaks down 'America's Team' documentary
Maclain Way joins Dan Patrick to unpack "America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys" and the many stories featured in the new Netflix documentary series.
