“Tiger King” star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle has been charged with laundering greater than half one million {dollars}, cash federal prosecutors mentioned Monday that he believed to be the proceeds of an operation to smuggle individuals throughout the Mexican border into the USA.
Prices towards Antle and Andrew Jon Sawyer, considered one of Antle’s staff at Myrtle Seaside Safari, had been revealed throughout a federal court docket listening to in Florence, South Carolina.
In line with federal prosecutors, Antle and Sawyer laundered $505,000 over a four-month interval by doling out checks from companies they managed, receiving a 15% payment of the cash that handed by way of their palms.
The checks, prosecutors allege, falsely presupposed to be cost for building work at Myrtle Seaside Safari however had been in actuality supposed to function proof that the recipients had legit earnings.
In line with the grievance unsealed in court docket Monday, Antle mentioned his plan to hide the money he obtained by inflating vacationer numbers at his 50-acre (20-hectare) wildlife tropical protect. Prosecutors additionally mentioned he had beforehand used bulk money receipts to buy animals for which he couldn’t use checks.
Information for the Horry County jail present Antle and Sawyer had been each arrested Friday. Attorneys for each males didn’t instantly touch upon the costs when reached through e mail.
In line with authorities, Antle and Sawyer every face a most of 20 years in federal jail if convicted.
Antle is featured prominently in “Tiger King: Homicide, Mayhem and Insanity,” a 2020 Netflix documentary miniseries that centered on tiger breeders and personal zoo operators within the U.S. The sequence centered closely on Oklahoma zoo operator Joe Unique, who additionally was focused for animal mistreatment and was convicted in a plot to kill a rival, Carole Baskin.
Animal rights advocates have accused Antle of mistreating lions and different wildlife. He was indicted in Virginia in 2020 on animal cruelty and wildlife trafficking prices.
In Might, Individuals for the Moral Therapy of Animals requested the IRS to probe Antle’s Uncommon Species Fund, a nonprofit elevating cash for wildlife conservation. PETA alleges he makes use of a few of the fund’s cash to subsidize his safari web site in Socastee exterior Myrtle Seaside.
“It’s becoming that ‘Doc’ Antle is behind bars after years of locking up the endangered animals he makes use of in tawdry picture ops. His authorized woes are mounting, as PETA not too long ago blew the whistle on his obvious ‘charity’ rip-off, and the tip to his reign of terrorizing tiger cubs can’t come quickly sufficient,” mentioned Debbie Metzler, affiliate director of PETA’s Captive Animal Legislation Enforcement division, in an announcement.
In the meantime, in Virginia, Antle is dealing with two felony counts of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to wildlife trafficking prices, in addition to 13 misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act and animal cruelty prices tied to trafficking lion cubs. These prices are scheduled to go to trial subsequent month.
Antle has a historical past of recorded violations, going way back to 1989, when he was fined by the U.S. Division of Agriculture for abandoning deer and peacocks at his zoo in Virginia. Over time, he has greater than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals.
Meg Kinnard might be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.