“Tiger King” Star Doc Antle Sentenced, Banned from Dealing Exotic Animals in Virginia

~Antle was convicted of four felonies in Frederick County~

RICHMOND, Va. – Attorney General Jason Miyares announced that Bhagavan Antle, more commonly known as “Doc Antle” from the Netflix series “Tiger King”, was sentenced today in Frederick County. Antle was convicted of illegally purchasing endangered lion cubs in Frederick County for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo business. 

Antle was prosecuted and convicted of two felony counts of wildlife trafficking and two felony counts of conspiring to wildlife traffic this past June. 

The Judge upheld the jury’s guilty verdict, and sentenced Antle to two years with time suspended for each charge, to run concurrently. Antle is required to pay the maximum fee of $2,500 per conviction, totaling a $10,000 fine. 

Antle is not allowed to work, own, possess, broker, buy, sell, trade, transfer, barter or donate any exotic animals for five years in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“Today concludes a multi-year investigation and prosecution by my office. In Virginia, we uphold the rule of law without exception, whether dealing with violent repeat offenders, big pharma, fraudsters and scammers, or wildlife traffickers. This case sends a clear message that bad actors will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth,” said Attorney General Miyares. 

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