Zookeeper Joe Exotic, currently sitting behind bars for a murder-for-hire plot gone wrong, said Wednesday night that he has been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer.
“It is with a sad face that I have to tell you the doctors called me in today to break the news that my prostate biopsy came back with an aggressive cancer. I am still waiting on the results from other test as well,” the “Tiger King” star wrote in a letter to “everyone” that accompanied a tweet from his account.
“Right now, I don’t want anyone’s pity.”
Instead, Exotic, born Joseph Maldonado-Passage, begged for compassionate release from prison.
“They have the proof I did not do this and there is no reason for the U.S. attorney to drag this out so I can go home and get treatment on my own or enjoy what time I have left with my loved ones,” he wrote.
Exotic was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for, among other charges, hiring a hitman to kill rival Carole Baskin.
After the release of “Tiger King” last year, fans began a petition to have him pardoned, going as far as to file a request to the Department of Justice.
In July, a circuit court of appeals vacated his sentence and ordered that a new sentence be handed down; that has not yet happened.
Baskin, meanwhile, filed a lawsuit against Netflix Monday, alleging that she never gave permission for the “Tiger King” producers to use footage of her for a sequel documentary series.
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