Tiger King’s ‘Texas-sized’ team asks Donald Trump to pardon Joe Exotic

Joseph Maldonado-Passage was sentenced in January to 22 years in prison

Tiger King subject Joe Exotic is moving forward with a bid to secure a presidential pardon.

In a video released on Friday by TMZ, Exotic’s legal counsel announces that “a team the size of Texas” has been assembled to get him released from custody.

Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced in January this year to 22 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.

His case returned to the forefront following the release of Netflix’s seven-part series Tiger King on 20 March.

The clip published by TMZ features a large bus emblazoned with the words “Team King” and “President Trump please pardon Joe Exotic”.

Francisco Hernandez, an attorney in Texas, says he and others intend to prove Maldonado-Passage’s innocence.

“A team the size of Texas has been assembled to handle the case of Joe Exotic,” says Hernandez.

Eric Love, of Bedford, Texas, is introduced as Exotic’s executive manager and “lead investigator”.

“We’ve built an army of attorneys to assist in the appeal process and right this monumental injustice,” says Love.

Trump has previously said he would be willing to “take a look” at Exotic’s case, though he admitted to knowing “nothing” about the situation.