Star of Netflix series ‘Tiger King’ now in Lexington federal prison, he says

Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado, featured in Netflix’s Tiger King series and convicted in 2020 of animal abuse and a murder-for-hire plot, is now serving his time at Lexington’s Federal Medical Center, a Friday morning post on his Facebook page said.

“Joe has now arrived at FMC Lexington,” said the post, which also provided his new prison mailing address to supporters.

Maldonado, 62, was first sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in January 2020. In January 2022, a judge later reduced the term to 21 years. He was previously at Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth in Texas.

The prison transfer had not been noted on the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website by Saturday morning.

Maldonado’s website says newly discovered evidence “proves overwhelming innocence.”

“Joe Exotic’s story is one of tragedy, controversy, and resilience,” the website says. “We believe it’s time to take a deeper look at the facts, the sentence, and the man behind the headlines.