TIGER King star Joe Exotic has NOT been pardoned by Donald Trump, despite his legal team having reportedly hired a limo to whisk him away from prison.
The outgoing president granted clemency to Steve Bannon,Lil Wayne and 141 others in a late flurry of last-minute decisions just before 1am on Wednesday – hours before Biden's inauguration in Washington DC.
⚠️ Read our Inauguration Day 2021 live blog for the very latest news and updates on Joe Biden's swearing-in
But there was no pardon for Joe 'Tiger King' Exotic, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence for animal cruelty and plotting to kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin.
Eric Love, who is part of Exotic's legal squad Team Tiger, had earlier confirmed that they have already booked a huge Dodge truck limousine, from company Heaven On Wheels, to take the star off a secret hideaway for recuperation.
Love claimed to have parked the limousine about half a mile from FMC Prison in Texas, where Exotic was serving time.
It was not known whether such a vehicle was ever parked near the prison, or whether it remained there, had Love's claims been true.
Last week, Team Tiger flew to Washington, DC, for a “high level” meeting with White House aides for a last-minute pardon discussion.
Lead investigator Love had reportedly felt Exotic has has a "great shot" of being freed from his 22 year-sentence for animal cruelty and plotting to kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin.
Love said he'd had his cell phone on 24/7 and was "excited" to get the call confirming their hopes of Exotic's release.
But Exotic's name was not among the list of 73 last-minute pardons and 70 commuted sentences issued in the dying hours of his presidency.
The last-minute pardons and 70 commuted sentences are notable for the absence of family members and others that were touted to be under consideration – including Trump himself and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
A senior administration official told Reuters that no member of Trump's family, nor the president or his lawyer, would be pardoned.
The list did include unfamiliar names of regular people who have spent years languishing in prison, as well as politically connected friends and allies like those Trump has pardoned in the past.
Love had earlier claimed the President's son, Donald Trump Jr, and his partner, Kimberly Guilfoyle, were both sympathetic of Exotic's case, expressing their concerns to the President.
Love, who went to Washington in a private jet dubbed The Joe Exotic Express and Exotic One, insisted Trump has been directly made aware of the pardon request.
Speaking on camera, his confidante Love explained their plans to whisk Exotic from the prison to a secret luxury location.
Love said: “We call it the Exit Plan, initiated by me.
“Once we’re notified, whether it’s by television or phone, we will execute a plan.
“Team Tiger has a helicopter on standby, we have a remote ranch that no one knows the location except Team Tiger lead council and myself.
“The first thing that will happen: Joe will be taken off site and then placed in a helicopter with myself and a security team and an additional helicopter, we are going to go to a remote ranch, that’s remote to Fort Worth.
“We will go there for 48 hours of decompression. It is important.
“We want to make sure that he is loved, appreciated, catered to, but most importantly, he needs about 48 hours is what I’ve kind of dialed in on a decompression.”
Love says in his experience Exotic needs time to recover from being “institutionalized” after life in a cell.
“It’s not really deprogramming, you talk to anybody who’s ever been incarcerated, you can never get rid of the stigma of the institutionalization that it does to a person, but we want to have about a 48-hour period where we can get him ready for the world and ready for him to see his husband.
“He’s made it very clear, he wants to make sure his hair is done before he sees Dillon, and that’s important.
“You always want to be the best for your spouse and we can certainly agree and embrace that and we will facilitate that.
“So Joe’s got to have that platinum (service) done. That’s why we’ve got hair, wardrobe, and makeup, and we’ve got the best in the business.”
The 57-year-old reality star has long pushed for a pardon – even asking Kim Kardashian for help.
He is being held at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth and has said he fears succumbing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Upon his eventual release, Exotic plans to become a campaigner for prison reform.
Exotic – who suffers CVID immune issues – is poised to have a transfusion to bolster his health as well face a full scale medical evaluation.
He is meant to have them monthly, but has had just two in six months at FMC Prison.
Exotic has famed Beverly Hills attorney Brad S Small overseeing his business interests for commercial representation and protecting the reality star from being "exploited".
The Sun has reached out to Joe's lawyers who said Eric is the only member of the team authorized to comment by Exotic.
Source: Read Full Article
