Joe Exotic was not among the more than 100 pardons and commutations President Trump issued early Wednesday — even though he truly believed he would be.
Private investigator Eric Love, who is part of Exotic’s legal team, said Tuesday evening he was confident the ‘Tiger King’ star would be receiving a pardon before the president’s term ends Wednesday. But that failed to happen.
“We will be standing by waiting for President Trump’s confirmation of the Tiger King Joe Exotic,” Love said from inside a limousine waiting to pick Exotic up from a Texas prison if he was pardoned and released, KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City reported.
“Much love to the fans. Thank you so much for all the support. God bless. We’ll see you as soon as we get the pardon.”
Carol ‘F**king’ Baskin
Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced to 22-years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted his big time rival, Carole Baskin. The story was featured on the Netflix documentary miniseries “Tiger King.” Exotic rose to big fame as the Netflix series took on a life of its own during the middle of the COVID pandemic.
8:45 PM CT UPDATE from @EricLoveTexas from the #TigerKing limo
“We will be standing by for President Trump’s confirmation of the pardon.”
Meanwhile, the press aides called the last lid at the Trump White House at 7:35 PM ET. @kfor pic.twitter.com/V7442NKfgJ
— Peyton Yager (@peytonyager) January 20, 2021
On Monday, Love said “I am absolutely confident that we are going to receive the pardon tomorrow. We worked very hard on it,” according to KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City.
He added his team had brought supplies for “hair, makeup, wardrobes” and a doctor and mental health expert on hand in the event of his release.
For now…the limo is no longer on standby and Exotic remains in prison — where you will more than likely be for the rest of his days, due to age and poor health.