How many years does Doc Antle face in prison? 'Tiger King' zookeeper pleads guilty to Lacey Act violation conspiracy and money laundering
MYRTYL BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA: Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, 63, of 'Tiger King' fame currently faces a maximum of five years in prison and three years of supervised release on two counts, along with fines up to $250,000.
On Monday, November 6, the animal trainer and private zoo operator pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and conspiracy to launder money in a federal court.
The sentencing of Antle will take place after US District Judge Joseph Dawson III for the District of South Carolina, who accepted his guilty plea, receives and reviews a sentencing report prepared by the Probation Office.
His guilty plea comes about a month after a state court in Frederick County, Virginia, handed Antle a two-year suspended sentence and a total of $10,000 fines for illegal procurement of endangered lion cubs.
According to ABC News, Antle was acquitted of five counts of animal cruelty by a jury in June. In that case, the judge dismissed four more animal cruelty charges brought against Antle and all charges of his two adult daughters.
What is the Lacey Act?
The Lacey Act was enacted in 1900 to ban the trafficking of fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.
In 2008, the law was amended to extend protections to a broader range of plants and plant products, making it unlawful to import certain products, such as timber and paper, without an import declaration.
The law is administered by agencies of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior, including the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
What are the charges against Doc Antle?
Federal prosecutors have accused Doc Antle, who runs the Myrtle Beach Safari, of conspiring to traffick two cheetah cubs, two lion cubs, two tigers, and one juvenile chimpanzee.
He is said to have used cash payments to hide transactions and falsified paperwork to make them appear like non-commercial transfers within a single state. The payments were further made to look like donations to his nonprofit organization, the Rare Species Fund.
Antle, along with a co-conspirator, also apparently made financial transactions using money obtained from moving undocumented immigrants.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division stated, "The defendant held himself out as a conservationist, yet repeatedly violated laws protecting endangered animals and then tried to cover up those violations."
He added, "This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to combatting illegal trafficking, which threatens the survival of endangered animals."
