Tiger King star Joe Exotic has been separated from fellow prisoners due to a ‘contagious’ health issue.
Following his announcement in 2022 about plans to marry his new partner and sixth spouse, John Graham, the ‘Tiger King’ is making headlines once again.
In case you missed it, Joe Exotic is serving a 21-year sentence and has remained quite vocal on social media.
Exotic is in the midst of divorcing his fifth husband, Dillon Passage. They were together for nine months before Exotic’s arrest and subsequent 2020 conviction for two counts of attempting to hire someone to murder Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin, along with various wildlife violations.
In 2022, his sentence was reduced from 22 years to 21 years, prompting him to plead with the judge: “Please don’t make me die in prison waiting for a chance to be free.”
He had largely stayed out of the limelight until now. Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, has contracted scabies.
His legal team informed The Dallas Morning News that he is being kept apart from others after developing the highly contagious skin condition. The Mayo Clinic explains that scabies is caused by a mite that burrows into the skin and lays eggs.
Exotic, 61, is currently at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, where a spokesperson confirmed a scabies outbreak in one of the housing units.
To contain the situation, visitation for those residing in the affected unit is on hold.
The Post reported that the prison has implemented measures to minimize exposure risks. They stated they take ‘communicable infections seriously.’
A representative noted that the unit is in a ‘state of crisis’ due to staffing shortages, including medical personnel.
They stated: “We make every effort to ensure the physical safety and health of the individuals confined to our facilities through a controlled environment that is secure and humane.”
Exotic’s lawyer, Roger Roots, reported that his client has been enduring a rash and itching for over six weeks and claimed to have witnessed ‘very unsanitary’ conditions, including rats in the prisoners’ beds.
However, The Post mentioned that the prison has denied the allegations regarding rats.
UNILAD has reached out to Fort Worth prison for a statement.
Despite Exotic’s current condition, Roots suggests he remains ‘optimistic’ about possibly being released next year and has aspirations to pursue academics.
Recently, Exotic shared his thoughts with Radar Online about the potential release of the Menendez brothers, while he fears he may die behind bars.
Exotic expressed: “When I was running for office, that was one of my biggest complaints is our judges – our federal judges are appointed by Democrat and Republican presidents.
“The system is already broken, it’s not fair. I got sentenced by a Republican judge – got 21 years.
“So if you have a president appointing judges based off their political beliefs, the system is already broken.”