Tiger King star Doc Antle faces grand jury indictment

Tiger King star Doc Antle faces grand jury indictment [ad_1]
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Tiger King star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle felt the chunk of a ten-rely indictment from a South Carolina grand jury for alleged wildlife trafficking and cash laundering, prosecutors declared Thursday.

Antle, sixty two, who owns the wildlife tropical protect Myrtle Beach front Safari, faces up to twenty many years at the rear of bars for the cash laundering prices and 5 for the wildlife trafficking prices, in accordance to the Justice Division.

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“Kudos to the U.S. Division of Justice and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services for performing what the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) has refused to do for many years: crack down on ‘Doc’ Antle’s endangered-animal exploitation outfit,” PETA claimed in a assertion. “PETA will maintain pushing the USDA to do its occupation, revoke Antle’s license, and cease permitting him financial gain from animals’ distress.”

FBI brokers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services investigated the situation. In addition to Antle, 4 other persons were being strike with connected indictments from the grand jury, which includes Andrew Sawyer, fifty two, Meredith Bybee, fifty one, Charles Sammut, sixty one, and Jason Clay, forty two.

Bybee, Sammut, and Clay are accused of collaborating in the wildlife trafficking functions with Antle in violation of the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife these kinds of as cheetahs, lemurs, and a chimpanzee were being allegedly trafficked in all those functions. The trio is also accused of generating fake statements about that exercise to regulation enforcement.

The indictment also involves cash laundering prices, introducing to a earlier submitted federal grievance declared before this thirty day period that also billed him for the alleged cash laundering plan.

Antle is accused of conspiring with Sawyer to launder $505,000 from an alleged "procedure to smuggle unlawful immigrants throughout the Mexican border into the United States." Each Antle and Saywer wrote checks with that cash falsely professing to be remitted for design perform at Myrtle Beach front Safari, in accordance to the Justice Division. This process was utilised as a guise for a "genuine earnings," but Antle and Sawyer reaped a fifteen% price on the cash despatched, prosecutors alleged.

On Monday, a choose established a $250,000 bond for Antle and purchased him confined to his Myrtle Beach front Safari for the cash laundering prices in the prior federal grievance. The bond was compensated and he was launched from a South Carolina jail Tuesday, WBTW noted.

Antle acquired fame for his overall look in the 2020 strike Tiger King documentary collection, which informed the tale of tiger breeders and non-public zoos. He was also highlighted in the adhere to-up documentary Tiger King: The Doc Antle Tale.

In addition to the grand jury indictment, he is also experiencing prices in Virginia for wildlife trafficking, animal cruelty, and a lot more, the Hill noted. He has experienced in excess of 35 Division of Agriculture violations submitted from him for his treatment method of animals, in accordance to the outlet.