Joe Exotic granted resentencing in murder-for-hire case

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered former zoo owner and “Netflix” star Joe Exotic to be re-sentenced for his conviction in a murder-for-hire plot.

The “Tiger King” star — real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage — was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in a federal lockup for trying to hire two men to kill his nemesis, Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin.

A three-judge panel in Denver’s Court of Appeals ruled that the original sentence was issued using the wrong sentencing guidelines.

The judges found the trial court should have treated the murder-for-hire convictions as one since they both involved the goal of having Baskin killed.

The proper sentencing range should have been between 17 ½ to just under 22 years, the panel wrote, not just under 22 years to 27 years in prison.

Maldonado-Passage has maintained his innocence and unsuccessfully sought a pardon from former President Donald Trump.

Wednesday’s ruling did not involve Maldonado-Passage’s separate conviction for killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.

In a statement, PETA — a long time critic of Exotic — said animal lovers don’t have to worry about the disgraced zoo owner walking free anytime soon.

“Joe Exotic still has many years in prison ahead of him … so neither PETA nor anyone else who cares about animals has anything to worry about,” the animal rights group said.

With Post wires

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