Latest news with #CaroleBaskin
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Joe Exotic EXPLODES on social media after Trump pardons the Chrisleys and not him
Tiger King alum Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado was outraged after President Donald Trump decided to pardon Chrisley Knows Best stars Todd and Julie Chrisley rather than him on Tuesday. 'I guess being innocent is not enough in America,' the incarcerated 62-year-old - who boasts 1M social media followers - vented via X. 'They all admitted to perjury on world television but yet I'm left to die of [prostate] cancer before I can get any help. 'Why is it the entire world can see the evidence but the White House refuses to acknowledge that they did this to me knowing that they were lying?' Joe is currently serving his fifth year of a 21-year sentence at FMC Forth Worth Federal Medical Center in Texas. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop The incarcerated 62-year-old - who boasts 1M social media followers - vented via X: 'I guess being innocent is not enough in America. They all admitted to perjury on world television but yet I'm left to die of [prostate] cancer before I can get any help' Maldonado was notoriously arrested in 2018 for paying two hitmen (one of whom was an undercover FBI agent) $3K and $10K to murder his nemesis, Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin. The former roadside zoo owner was also convicted on eight violations of the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records, and nine violations of the Endangered Species Act by killing five tigers and selling tigers across state lines. Despite this, Joe has repeatedly stressed that he 'did not hurt anyone,' 'did not pay anyone,' and 'had no plans to hurt anyone.' Maldonado continues to claim his case was riddled with entrapment, coerced testimonies, perjury confessions, and collusion between federal agencies. The petition to 'free Joe Exotic' currently has over 25K signatures. Meanwhile, the Chrisleys could be 'coming home tonight or tomorrow' after the 78-year-old POTUS issued the couple a pardon way ahead of their scheduled release from prison in 2035 and 2030. Todd (born Michael) is serving his 12-year sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, FL for tax evasion (2008-2019) after being found guilty of defrauding community banks out of more than $30M of loans. Julie is serving her seven-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, KY for the same charges as well as wire fraud and obstruction of justice. During the three-week trial, it was revealed that the 56-year-old grandfather-of-two's alleged ex-lover and business partner Mark Braddock - who was granted immunity - was the one who tipped off authorities. Despite this, Maldonado has repeatedly stressed that he 'did not hurt anyone' and claims his case was riddled with entrapment, coerced testimonies, perjury confessions, and collusion between federal agencies The Chrisleys could be 'coming home tonight or tomorrow' after the 78-year-old POTUS issued the couple a pardon way ahead of their scheduled release from prison in 2035 and 2030 Fans first got to know the eccentric Georgia clan in the USA Network's Chrisley Knows Best, which aired for 10 seasons spanning 2014-2023 as well as Peacock spin-off Growing Up Chrisley, which aired for four seasons spanning 2019-2022 (pictured in 2021) 'We're putting clothes together for mom and dad, getting their room put together upstairs,' their eldest daughter Savannah Chrisley gushed on Instagram Tuesday. 'They're coming home. My parents get to start their lives over. President Trump didn't just commute their sentences, he gave them a full, unconditional pardon. So for that I am forever grateful. Thank you, President Trump.' Fans first got to know the eccentric Georgia clan in the USA Network's Chrisley Knows Best, which aired for 10 seasons spanning 2014-2023 as well as Peacock spin-off Growing Up Chrisley, which aired for four seasons spanning 2019-2022. Another recently-freed convict is Joe's sixth 'husband' Jorge Flores Maldonado, who was promptly deported to Tamaulipas in Mexico by ICE on May 16 following his release from FMC. 'There is a lot of organized crime here and there is no security,' the Mexican 33-year-old told the New York Post last Saturday. 'I am a very famous person and right now I run the risk of being kidnapped. The cartels are very active here — I cannot even go out on the street. They think I have money because of my husband.' Maldonado is 29 years older than Jorge, whom he announced he wed on April 22 after a six-month engagement behind bars. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness held the No. 1 spot on Netflix top 10 most streamed list for 25 days straight in March-April 2020 - amassing over 34M viewers. Directing duo Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaikli's eight-part docuseries truly became a pop culture phenomenon at the height of COVID-19 quarantine and spawned a number of spin-offs.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Joe Exotic details 'emotional' final moments with prison husband before he was deported to Mexico
Joe Exotic is opening up about his devastating forced separation from his husband after he was deported to Mexico. Joe (real name: Joseph Allen Maldonado) told TMZ on Thursday that he was feeling 'pretty emotional' after his husband Jorge Marquez Flores was removed from the country. Jorge was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shortly after he was released from the same prison where his husband is currently serving a 21-year sentence for attempted murder after trying to hire a hitman to kill his rival Carole Baskin. His big mistake was offering $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin. Joe rose to fame from the 2020 Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness that followed his life as he looked after exotic big cats at his G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Joe, 62, said he and Jorge were both 'bawling so hard' when they said their goodbyes on Friday morning ahead of Jorge's release. He admitted that the two 'expected' that Jorge would have trouble with immigration officials, but Joe complained that he 'spent all this money on some of the best immigration lawyers America had to offer' in order to get relief from deportation proceedings for his husband. According to him, Jorge was supposed to have a hearing about his attempts to seek asylum in the US, but he was whisked away by ICE agents before that could happen once he was released from the Federal Medical Center Fort Worth, where he and Joe had been incarcerated. Asylum applicants are typically permitted to remain in the US while their request proceeds, but it's unclear where Jorge was in the process, and his criminal status may have made it easier for ICE to deport him. According to Joe, Jorge was taken to Mexico so quickly that his attorneys didn't even have a chance to see him before he was out of the country. Jorge was imprisoned in 2024 for 'unlawfully reentering the US from Mexico after previously being deported,' according to The Sun. In October, after announcing their engagement, Joe said he was working on 'getting asylum or we'll be leaving America when we both get out.' He doubled down on that claim in answering a comment on social media wishing him luck in his appeal. Exotic wrote that he has 'no problem going to Mexico' with his husband when released. Jorge also spoke with TMZ via phone from a friend's house in Mexico and said he hadn't had a chance to speak with his husband since his deportation. However, he said he had already written multiple letters to the Tiger King star, which he hoped he would be able to read soon. Jorge also gave a glimpse into their relationship in prison, reportedly saying he and Joe regularly spent time together at the prison library and gym. The two had different native tongues, but practicing their English and Spanish together was also a bonding experience for them. Joe also shared some dispiriting updates on his health and the cancer he has been afflicted with. Though it had previously been in remission, he confirmed that the cancer had begun growing again and it had since spread to his left lung. He was surprisingly casual about his illness, telling the publication that he wasn't willing to undergo more treatments after he was overwhelmed by the side effects of a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. 'I just can't do it again,' he admitted. 'Honestly, I would rather go visit my parents and my two dead husband and my brother in heaven,' than be 'in a concrete room puking again,' he added. Joe said he was feeling well for the time being, and he was trying to stay fit and eat well, so he feared the treatments would just make him feel worse. 'If I die tomorrow, I've had the happiest 10 months of my life,' he declared. Joe shocked fans last month when he announced he'd married a fellow prisoner. Speaking to Sydney, Austrailia's 2DayFM's Jimmy & Nath Show, Joe revealed whether the couple had consummated the marriage. Sharing a photoshopped snap of the couple wearing suits for the big day, he quipped: 'Never been more proud of someone. Meet my husband Jorge Flores Maldonado.' Joe shared the news of their engagement back in October, as he told fans: 'Meet Jorge Marquez. He is so amazing and is from Mexico.' He added: 'Now, the quest of getting married in prison and getting him asylum or we be leaving America when we both get out. 'Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago.'
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Tiger King's Joe Exotic says his new husband has been deported - but still begs for a Trump pardon
Tiger King star Joe Exotic shared that his husband was deported to Mexico – as he begs President Donald Trump for a pardon so he can go be with him. The former tiger trader, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, pleaded with Trump on X, writing, 'just let me go to Mexico and you can keep Carole Baskin.' Exotic, 62, is serving a 21-year prison sentence at Federal Medical Center Fort Worth for animal abuse and plotting to kill Baskin, his longtime rival. While in prison, he met and married his husband, fellow inmate Jorge Flores Marquez. Marquez, 33, was deported to Mexico on Friday immediately after completing a sentence in federal prison for residing unlawfully in the country, a representative for Exotic confirmed to TMZ. Exotic, who rose to fame through the Netflix true-crime documentary, Tiger King, has repeatedly requested the president pardon him – this time begging Trump to free him so that he could go to Mexico to be with his husband. 'Mr. President, it's really past time to have one of your people watch Tiger King Season 2, where they all admitted to perjury and a plot to kill me on world television and let me out,' Exotic wrote on X on Sunday. 'I know that you are not fond of my lifestyle, but I supported you just allow me to go to Mexico with my husband,' he continued. '8 years for nothing is long enough. Don't you think?' he concluded his plea. In another post, Exotic wrote on X that his husband had an ICE hearing scheduled for Monday and even 'the ICE agents didn't understand why he got sent back so fast.' 'I'm exhausted trying to figure out why you won't listen to the evidence,' Exotic wrote to Trump. Exotic and Marquez were married sometime this spring after getting engaged in prison last October. 'Meet Jorge Marquez, he is 33. He is so amazing and is from Mexico. Now, the quest of getting married in prison and getting him asylum, or we be leaving America when we both get out,' Exotic wrote on X at the time. 'Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago.' The former zookeeper has long been vying for a presidential pardon, appealing to both Trump and former President Joe Biden for the past five years. Earlier this year, Exotic slammed Trump for again failing to pardon him and said he would have been better off if he had stormed the US Capitol on January 6.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Tiger King Joe Exotic pleads for Trump pardon after husband deported
Joe Exotic – star of the 2020 Netflix true crime documentary Tiger King – is publicly pleading for Donald Trump to pardon him from federal prison after his husband was deported to Mexico. 'It's really past time to have one of your people watch Tiger King Season 2, where they all admitted to perjury and a plot to kill me on world television and let me out,' Exotic, whose name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, wrote late on Sunday on social media to the president whom he has politically supported. 'I know that you are not fond of my lifestyle, but I supported you just allow me go to Mexico with my husband.' Exotic's husband, Jorge Marquez Flores, had been jailed in Texas over immigration issues. He was released on Friday – but then deported to Mexico. Referring to members of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Exotic's post to Trump said, 'The Ice agents didn't understand why he got sent back so fast. He had a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.' Exotic's post urged Trump, 'Just let me go to Mexico and you can keep Carole Baskin,' with whom Exotic feuded on the Netflix show that vaulted him to fame. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Exotic, 62, is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence in Oklahoma after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin, an activist and big cat rescuer. He was sentenced in January 2020. He had initially been given 22 years, but the punishment was reduced in 2022 by a year in response to his pleas for leniency as he began early-stage prostate cancer treatment. The cancer reportedly went in remission in July 2022 but had come back earlier this year. Exotic wed Marquez, 33, in October after the pair met in prison. It was Exotic's fifth marriage. He had posted earlier this year on social media that his husband would self-deport and he would go to Mexico if Trump fulfilled Exotic's pleas for a pardon. When asked in April 2020 during his first presidency whether he would pardon Exotic, Trump replied: 'I'll take a look.'
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Joe Exotic's husband is DEPORTED to Mexico after release from prison... one month after wedding
Joe Exotic 's worst fear came true when his husband Jorge Flores Maldonado was picked up by ICE upon his release from prison. Joe - real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage - posted a photo on Instagram with his husband on Saturday. 'They have officially taken him to an ICE detention Center for his hearing to either stay in America or go back to Mexico.' Maldonado was deported to Mexico just hours after the immigration hearing, TMZ confirmed Sunday. Jorge was serving time for immigration-related issues while Joe is behind bars for 21 years for his alleged involvement in attempting to have his rival Carole Baskin killed. Exotic rose to fame from the 2020 Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness that followed his life as he looked after exotic big cats at his G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma. Joe's big mistake was offering $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin. was imprisoned in 2024 for 'unlawfully reentering the US from Mexico after previously being deported' per The Sun. In October, after announcing their engagement, Exotic said he was working on 'getting asylum or we be leaving America when we both get out.' He doubled down on that claim in answering a comment on social media wishing him luck in his appeal. Exotic wrote that he has 'no problem going to Mexico' with his husband when released. That might not be as easy as Exotic thinks it is with his felony conviction. Mexico can deny entry to felons with dangerous convictions such as attempted murder. On Saturday, Joe shared a photo of his husband on Instagram and included a long and heartfelt message and hope that they can be together again someday. 'You know, I could die tomorrow, and I could go knowing what true love was really all about,' Joe began. 'Jorge gave me the most loving and devoted 10 months of my life. I pray God will give me the chance to experience life with him again.' He went on to say when he went outside, prisoners came up to him to check on how he was 'holding up since he left.' 'You know, they all respected us because we weren't the typical gay people just causing drama and bed-hopping. They saw that we were real and serious about our devotion to each other, which is amazing that some of the worst of the worst society has to offer saw that in us.' Joe then went on to throw his hope behind a Presidential pardon from Donald Trump. 'We need to get some serious campaigns going to get Trump to let me go. No matter where I am, I'm fine with Mexico or America, as long as I spend my last days with Jorge. 'Pray that we make it back together one day. I am falsely incarcerated in my own country I don't belong here I pray President Trump signs my pardon soon.' Joe shocked fans last month when he announced he'd married a fellow prisoner. Speaking to Sydney, Austrailia's 2DayFM's Jimmy & Nath Show, Joe revealed whether the couple had consummated the marriage. Sharing a photoshopped snap of the couple wearing suits for the big day, he quipped: 'Never been more proud of someone. Meet my husband Jorge Flores Maldonado.' Joe shared the news of their engagement back in October, as he told fans: 'Meet Jorge Marquez. He is so amazing and is from Mexico.' He added: 'Now, the quest of getting married in prison and getting him asylum or we be leaving America when we both get out. 'Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago.' Joe, also known Joseph Maldonado-Passage, submitted a marriage application to the federal prison to wed Jorge.
