'Tiger King' star 'Doc' Antle banned from dealing in exotic animals for 5 years in Virginia

Three years after Bhagavan "Doc" Antle rose to fame in Netflix's "Tiger King" for his private park inhabited by big cats, the animal trainer will have to wait awhile before he can once again own and sell exotic animals — at least in Virginia.

A judge on Tuesday banned Antle for five years from buying, owning and selling any exotic animals within the state after the wild animal trainer was convicted in June of illegally purchasing endangered lion cubs in Virginia. Antle, 63, also received a suspended two-year prison sentence and must pay fines totaling $10,000.

In a statement, Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares said the sentence "sends a clear message that bad actors will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth."

“In Virginia, we uphold the rule of law without exception, whether dealing with violent repeat offenders, big pharma, fraudsters and scammers, or wildlife traffickers," Miyares said. 

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Antle rose to prominence in Netflix series about Joe Exotic

Antle rose to prominence in "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness," a 2020 Netflix documentary miniseries about tiger breeders and private zoo operators in the United States.

While Antle and his Myrtle Beach Safari park in South Carolina are featured in the series, the star was undoubtedly Joe Exotic, an eccentric zoo operator in Oklahoma who became caught up in a plot to kill Carole Baskin, a rival who operates an animal sanctuary in Florida.

Exotic — whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — is serving 21 years in federal prison after he was resentenced last year in the murder-for-hire case. The 60-year-old maintains his innocence and claims to have been set up.

Antle could have faced 20 years in prison

Antle was convicted in June of trafficking wildlife in Virginia, which prosecutors alleged he planned to buy for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo. All told, Antle was found guilty of two felony counts each of wildlife trafficking and conspiring to wildlife traffic.

The jury acquitted Antle of five counts of animal cruelty, while Judge Alexander Iden dismissed four additional animal cruelty charges against Antle and all charges against his two adult daughters, according to the Associated Press.

Antle had faced up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutor Michelle Welch previously said Myrtle Beach Safari’s lucrative petting zoo motivated Antle to maintain a steady supply of immature lion cubs that he purchased from Wilson’s Wild Animal Park near Winchester, calling the arrangement a “cub pipeline” from Virginia to South Carolina.

While buying and selling lions was still legal in 2015 when Antle and the park’s former owner began doing business, the animals were designated as an endangered species by the end of the year. The designation meant that lions could only be traded between zoos and wildlife preserves that were part of an established breeding program and had permits.

Despite the law, prosecutors said that Antle partook in three illegal cub exchanges in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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Antle has for years come under fire by animal rights groups

Antle has for years found himself in the crosshairs of animals rights advocates who have long accused him of mistreating lions and other wildlife.

In 1989, Antle's history of recorded violations began when he was fined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for abandoning deer and peacocks at his zoo in Virginia. Over the years, he has more than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals, according to the Associated Press.

In South Carolina, Antle is facing federal charges of buying or selling endangered lemurs, cheetahs, and a chimpanzee without the proper paperwork. He's also been implicated in a money laundering scheme in which prosecutors allege Antle tried to hide more than half a million dollars made in an operation to smuggle people across the Mexican border into the U.S.

Animal advocates received a small win late last year when a law was passed requiring big cat owners to register their lions, tigers and other exotic felines with the federal government or risk charges, fines and loss of ownership. The act, which Carole Baskin and her husband Howard Baskin had spent years pushing for, also prohibits breeding.

But after Antle's sentence, PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler on Tuesday called for federal authorities to also terminate Antle's licenses and shut down his "sleazy roadside zoo."

The request was based on "his years of mistreating animals, including tearing baby big cats, chimpanzees, and other animals away from their mothers to be used in public encounters," Metzler said in a statement.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]