Tiger King star Joe Exotic could be “very, very close” to a presidential pardon.
According to ABC News, President Donald Trump’s team has said that a number of pardon requests are being vetted at the moment, which includes one from Joe Exotic, real name Joseph Maldano-Passage.
“We are waiting on the pen to hit the paper, we think we are very, very close,” said Eric Love, an attorney for Exotic, about a potential presidential pardon.
While away, the former zoo owner has been relaying updates himself from prison, where he is serving a 22-year sentence. He has been charged for multiple different offenses, which includes a murder-for-hire plot against fellow Tiger King star Carole Baskin .
Joe Exotic wrote a message to fans on his Instagram account recently, via his lawyers, saying, “If President Trump grants me this miracle, I can honestly say I am putting everyone connected to that zoo and that industry behind me.”
He continued, “I am taking the higher road and will work on forgiving them. They’ve got a much bigger Man and karma to deal with one day than me and God knows everything.”
“I will spend every minute of my life making this up to my husband, using my platform to help sick children around the world, the homeless and fighting for change in this justice system,” Joe wrote further in his caption. “I can‘t let the people of my past waste another moment of my life ever again so I lose out on anything like I lost out on saying goodbye to my mom. Carole and all the rest who thrive on controlling others’ lives can go on about their way without me.”
He finished things off with the hashtags #freejoeexotic #pardonjoeexotic and #helpfreejoe.
In another post, the former zoo owner begs the president for a pardon before December 11, so that he can celebrate a wedding anniversary with his husband, Dillon.
“I have buried two husbands, a brother, a dozen friends and lost my mother. I fought for people I didn‘t even know because they were being done wrong,” he wrote under a photo of himself surrounded by family. “I was gifted to walk in with and love on the world’s most amazing beast and that is what made my enemies so jealous. But there are two things I wish for in my life that mean everything to me and that is to go see my dad before he passes. I will be at his funeral because I forgave him years ago for the comment he made when I told him I was gay.”
“He continued, “And to be home with Dillon for our wedding anniversary on December 11th so I can make up the years lost and keep my vows I made to him.”
