Latest ‘Tiger King’ twist as star ‘Doc’ Antle sentenced to prison time over animal trafficking
Five years after the Netflix phenomenon Tiger King captivated audiences during the Covid-19 lockdown, Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, a central figure, is going to prison.
Antle was sentenced to one year and one day behind bars and a $55,000 fine, having pleaded guilty in November 2023, to trafficking exotic animals and money laundering. Antle admitted he had broken federal law as he bought endangered animals to keep at his South Carolina zoo.
Prosecutor Patrick Duggan said in court in Charleston on Tuesday, “He was knowingly and illegally trading them as part of a black market that drives another black market of poaching and smuggling.”
Three others who pleaded guilty in the investigation received either probation or a four-month prison sentence.
Antle’s sentence is the final true-life chapter of the Tiger King saga. The Netflix series debuted in March 2020, near the peak of pandemic restrictions.
At the end of his sentencing hearing, Antle said, “I made a mistake, I did stupid things.”
“I hope I’ll be able to pull it back together for everybody,” he added.
Roughly 25 friends and family entered the federal courtroom on Tuesday, with several telling Judge Joseph Dawson III that Antle was generous and caring. They added that he raised money to fight poaching and to preserve wild habitats for tigers, lions, and chimpanzees.
The show centered 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, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 21-year federal prison sentence for trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin.
Antle, who owns a private zoo called Myrtle Beach Safari, appeared in the first season of the documentary and was the star of the third season.
Antle’s zoo was known for charging hundreds or thousands of dollars to let people pet and hold baby animals including lions, tigers, and monkeys that were so young they were still being bottle-fed. Customers could have photos or videos made. Antle would sometimes ride into tours on an elephant.
Myrtle Beach Safari remains open by reservation only, according to its website. Antle has remained out on bail since his arrest in June 2022. Antle’s federal charges were brought after the Tiger King series.
Prosecutors said he sold or bought cheetahs, lions, tigers, and a chimpanzee without the proper paperwork. And they said in a separate scheme, Antle laundered more than $500,000 that an informant told him was being used to get people into the U.S. illegally to work.
Antle was used to having large amounts of money he could move around quickly, investigators said.
The FBI was listening to Antle’s phone calls with the informant as he explained a baby chimpanzee could easily cost $200,000. Private zookeepers can charge hundreds of dollars for photos with docile young primates or other animals, but the profit window is only open for a few years before the growing animals can no longer be safely handled.
“I had to get a monkey, but the people won’t take a check. They only take cash. So what do you do?” Antle said, according to a transcript of the phone call in court papers.
Two of Antle’s employees have also been sentenced for their roles in his schemes.
Meredith Bybee was given a year of probation for selling a chimpanzee, while Andrew “Omar” Sawyer, who prosecutors said helped Antle launder money, was given two years of probation.
Jason Clay, a Texas private zoo owner, pleaded guilty to illegally selling a primate and was sentenced to four months in prison, while charges were dropped against California ranch owner Charles Sammut.
Antle was also convicted in 2023 in a Virginia court of four counts of wildlife trafficking over sales of lions and was sentenced to two years of prison suspended “upon five years of good behavior.” An appeals court overturned two of the convictions, ruling that Virginia law bans the sale of endangered species but not their purchase.
Antle was found not guilty of five counts of animal cruelty at that same Virginia trial.
