‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic transfers to hospital after fellow inmates test positive for COVID-19

Patrick Cunningham

5 years ago

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2013, file photo, Joseph Maldonado answers a question during an interview at the zoo he runs in Wynnewood, Okla. Federal prosecutors on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, announced that the zookeeper, also known as "Joe Exotic,” and candidate for governor earlier this year has been charged in a murder-for-hire scheme alleging he tried to hire someone to kill a Florida woman. Prosecutors allege Maldonado-Passage tried to hire two separate people to kill the woman, who wasn't harmed. Maldonado-Passage finished third in a three-way Libertarian primary in June. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

FORT WORTH, Texas (KETK) – Joseph Maldonado-Passage, AKA Joe Exotic from “Tiger King”, has been transferred to a prison medical center in Fort Worth.

According to our sister station NBC DFW, Maldonado-Passage is being held at Fort Worth FMC, a medical center operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Maldonado-Passage, 57, is in quarantine there after multiple fellow inmates at the jail where he was being held tested positive for the coronavirus.

He is currently serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot. Maldonado-Passage had attempted to hire someone to kill Carole Basking, a prominent animal rights activist and a centerpiece of the Netflix viral documentary “Tiger King.”

Maldonado-Passage was also convicted on nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act and eight counts of violating wildlife records.