Tiger King star Joe Exotic's father Francis Schreibvogel has died from coronavirus.
According to TMZ, which first reported the death, the jailed reality star now "desperately wants" to attend his father's funeral in Oklahoma on Saturday.
The news comes as a legal team for 57-year-old Exotic - born Joseph Maldonado-Passage - flew to Washington in their bid to beg President Trump for a pardon during his last few days in office.
This would allow Joe to attend his dad's funeral.
Should Donald Trump reject the plea, then his legal team, led by private investigator Eric Love, plan to request a day pass to allow Exotic to lay his father to rest.
Exotic is currently serving a 22-year sentence for plotting to kill his rival and fellow Tiger King star Carole Baskin.
Just last month, Exotic sued the US Justice Department for rejecting his official pardon request because it claimed it wasn't valid as his petition wasn't presented directly to Trump.
According to the New York Post, the lawsuit stated: "Many people have come out and publicly expressed their disagreement with Joe Exotic's conviction and subsequent sentence."
He had asked the judge to force the White House Pardon Attorney to get his application in front of Trump for a final decision.
But the disgraced zookeeper withdrew his complaint after learning Trump had received his petition.
Trump previously said he would "take a look" at Exotic's request. US Presidents have the power to pardon those who have committed crimes or reduce - commute - their sentences.
