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Will Trump free 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic as petition gets 59K signatures? Convict extends help in Don Lewis case

The petition ‘Free The Tiger King’ asks Trump to release Exotic and claims he 'was placed into captivity through dirty lies and tricks'

The rivalry and feud between Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin and her rival Joe Exotic, real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, made headlines after it was shown in the Netflix documentary series 'Tiger King'. As reported, Exotic received a 22-year prison sentence on multiple convictions, including 17 charges of animal abuse and two counts of murder for the hire of Carole.

Now, a petition has been started, requesting President Donald Trump to ‘Free The Tiger King’. The petition’s goal is set at 75,000 signatures and has got almost 60K signatures. It reads, “Joe Exotic was placed into captivity through the dirty lies and tricks. A tactic of which you are all too familiar with. Consider that poor Joe, was vilified for demanding the truth to come out about a powerful woman. A woman who used her feminine wiles to accrue untold levels of wealth and influence, leaving a path of destruction and dead bodies in her wake. Does this sound familiar Mr President?  You and Joe are kindred spirits.” It further appeals, “Only you, Mr President, have the power to undo this terrible abuse of our court system.  The same spirit that guides you to Make America Great Again can also free a man so abused by corruption and cronyism.”

Exotic is also again in the news and this time, it involves Carole's missing husband Jack Donald Lewis, according to TMZ. He reached out to Lewis’ family to help them find him. Don Lewis had vanished without a traceback in 1997 on August 18. His disappearance was also featured in an episode of Netflix's documentary titled 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness'. On August 10, Lewis's daughters along with a new legal team had held a press conference, where they announced that they would be offering $100k for any information on the case.

According to attorney John Phillips, "Resolving this case is in everyone’s best interest." He added how he had also asked Carole to speak to them regarding the disappearance of Lewis. A spokesperson for Lewis's family, Jack Smith, shared, "We really need someone to come forward in the case with information. And there’s a lot of people out there that have information but they’re scared to come forward. There’s people with animals — exotic animals — that are scared if they come forward, they’re gonna lose their animals somehow."

After the Netflix documentary series — which highlighted the deeply interconnected society of big cat conservationists in the US — aired on March 20, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was reportedly flooded with new tips regarding Lewis. Lewis had been married to Carole before she tied the knot with Howard Baskin. He was later declared legally dead, resulting in Carole inheriting his considerable fortune of $5 to $10 million and that allegations that she was involved in his disappearance.

A report published in Court House News Service in March stated the popularity of the Netflix docuseries has prompted a Florida sheriff to reopen the cold case. According to Complex, Exotic has been consistently alleging Carole of being involved in the disappearance of Lewis. Carole had denied the allegations, slammed the documentary producers for focusing on Exotic’s so-called “lies”, reports Complex. In the Big Cat Rescue website, according to Complex, Carole had written, “(Tiger King) has a segment devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don in 1997. The series presents this without any regard for the truth or in most cases even giving me an opportunity before publication to rebut the absurd claims. They did not care about the truth. The unsavory lies are better for getting viewers.”

As reported, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister shared in a video conference with reporters that he has assigned a detective supervisor to follow up on any new leads that have been generated as a result of the show. "The case remains open we never close a cold case," he said. He also shared a new call for information on his personal Twitter handle. “Since @netflix and #Covid19 #Quarantine has made #TigerKing all the rage, I figured it was a good time to ask for new leads,” he wrote.

According to the latest TMZ report, Lewis' daughters have agreed to work with Exotic and the plan right now is for him and their lawyer to figure out if Exotic has any useful information for the investigation.