OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — “Tiger King” Joe Exotic's name is missing from President Donald Trump’s flurry of pardons. The Oklahoma zookeeper-turned-reality-TV-star is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence in Texas. His backers were so confident in a pardon that they readied a limousine and a hair and wardrobe team for Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage. But he wasn’t on Trump's list announced Wednesday morning. He was convicted for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot targeting his rival, Carole Baskin, who runs a rescue sanctuary for big cats in Florida. He also was convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records. Maldonado-Passage has maintained his innocence.
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FILE - This file photo provided by the Santa Rose County Jail in Milton, Fla., shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage. Prosecutors say Maldonado-Passage, also known as "Joe Exotic, tried to arrange the killing of Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue. Lurors were shown a Facebook video Tuesday, March 26, 2019, that depicts Maldonado-Passage shooting a blow-up "Carole" doll in the head. Other videos show him pretending to dig a grave for Baskin and threatening to mail her rattlesnakes. (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)
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