New York - A federal court gave control of "Tiger King" Joe
"Exotic" Maldonado-Passage's Oklahoma zoo properties over to his
rival featured in the popular Netflix documentary as part of a $1
million trademark judgment.
According to Court House News, Maldonado-Passage fraudulently
transferred the properties to his mother, Shirley M. Schreibvogel, in
2011 to keep the properties away from creditors in case Baskin's Big
Cat Rescue won a lawsuit against Joe Exotic.
"Schreibvogel later admitted under oath that the zoo land was
transferred to her by Joe Maldonado to remove it from the reach of
creditors, including BCR, should BCR win its Florida lawsuit," the
complaint stated.
"Schreibvogel also admitted in 2015, via a confession of judgment she
entered into to resolve a lawsuit filed against her by the Chapter 7
bankruptcy trustee overseeing Joe Maldonado's personal bankruptcy
estate, that the zoo land was fraudulently transferred to her by Joe
Maldonado in 2011 to avoid his creditors."
Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as "Joe Exotic." Maldonado-Passage was convicted in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue, who he has repeatedly accused of killing her husband Jack “Don” Lewis. File picture: Santa Rosa County Jail via AP
US District Judge Scott L. Palk in Oklahoma City also awarded
several cars and cabins on the property to Baskin and Big Cat Rescue
and ordered Joe Exotic associate Jeff Lowe and others to vacate the
premises within 120 days.
In 2019, an Oklahoma federal jury convicted Maldonado-Passage of
trying to hire a hitman to kill Baskin, falsifying animal records and
violating the Endangered Species Act, events that were chronicled in
the Netflix documentary. He was sentenced to 22 years in federal
prison in January.
Judge Palk also presided over Maldonado-Passage's criminal trial. He
is also presiding over a counter lawsuit Maldonado-Passage filed
against several federal agencies. He has accused the judge of being a
biased animal rights advocate.