- "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic has been resentenced to 21 years in prison in a murder-for-hire plot.
- The new prison sentence is one year less than Exotic's original punishment.
- Exotic, 58, was convicted in 2019 of plotting to kill his rival Carole Baskin.
"Tiger King" star Joe Exotic has been resentenced to 21 years in prison in a murder-for-hire plot — one year less than his original punishment — after a federal appeals court ordered a new sentence.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was convicted in 2019 of plotting to kill his rival Carole Baskin, as well as of counts of animal cruelty. He was originally sentenced to 22 years in prison in January 2020.
A federal judge handed down the new sentence to the former zookeeper on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
"Please don't make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free," Exotic, 58, pleaded to the judge as he wore an orange prison jumpsuit, according to the news outlet.
Last year, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals found that a lower court made a mistake by not grouping both murder-for-hire convictions together. The court vacated Exotic's sentence and ordered a new one.
According to prosecutors, Exotic tried to hire two people, including an undercover FBI agent, to kill Baskin.
"He continues to harbor intense feelings of ill will toward me," Baskin, who attended Friday's hearing with her husband, testified in court, according to the AP.
The courtroom was filled with supporters of Exotic's during the proceeding. Some of them donned masks with animal prints on them, as well as shirts that read "Free Joe Exotic," the news outlet reported.
Exotic's attorneys said they plan on appealing the resentencing and will petition for a new trial, according to the AP.