NBCDFW – Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, has been transferred to a prison medical center in Fort Worth.
According to inmate records, Maldonado-Passage, 57, is being held at the Fort Worth FMC, a medical center operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Dillon Passage, Maldonado-Passage’s husband, said that Maldonado-Passage is in coronavirus quarantine because inmates at the jail where he was held prior to his transfer tested positive for the virus.
In April 2019, the former zoo owner was found guilty trying to hire someone to murder Carole Baskin, a prominent animal rights activist and the founder of Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary in Tampa, Florida.
He was convicted on January 20 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for two counts of murder-for-hire, nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act, and eight counts of violating the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records.
Maldonado-Passage is the focus of the popular documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which was released on Netflix on March 20.
The documentary series revolves around Maldonado-Passage’s life at his zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, where he owned hundreds of exotic animals. It also explores Baskin’s life, including the 1997 disappearance of her husband.