Madison Meeks

Editor-in-Chief

mvm7037@psu.edu

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA – Known for his appearance in Netflix’s docuseries ‘Tiger King’ Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle has pleaded guilty to charges of wildlife trafficking and money laundering.

Antle formerly owned The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species also known as the Myrtle Beach Safari. Prosecutors have stated that from September 2018 to May 2020, he had been in violation of the Lacey Act. Antle had purchased or sold animals that were protected under the Endangered Species Act. These animals included four cubs, two cheetahs and two lions, as well as two tigers, and a baby chimpanzee.

He tried to fool the system before he was caught by requesting payments to be made to his nonprofit so that it would look like they were donations. He was also falsifying paperwork and using bulk cash payments to hide these transactions.

The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Director Edward Grace has stated that these types of crimes often are connected to money laundering. Money laundering is when someone conceals the origins of illegally obtained money.

According to People Magazine, Between February and April 2022, Antle and his unnamed co-conspirator managed transactions with cash that were believed to be obtained by transporting illegal cargo. They were attempting to conceal where the money was coming from.

After receiving the funds, the pair took the cash to a bank and deposited it. Antle is facing up to five years in prison for each count and a fine up to 250,000 dollars as well as three years of supervised release.

Antle has been featured on Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’ then had gotten a documentary himself called ‘The Doc Antle Story’. Joe Exotic, who was also featured on the original ‘Tiger King’ was found guilty in 2019 of paying a hitman to kill Carole Baskin.

While Antle has not been found guilty of attempted murder like Exotic, he will be facing charges that include potential imprisonment.