“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 folks throughout the Mexican border into the USA.
Prices towards Antle and Andrew Jon Sawyer, considered one of Antle’s staff at Myrtle Seashore Safari, have been revealed throughout a federal court docket listening to in Florence, South Carolina.
In keeping 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% price of the cash that handed by their fingers.
The checks, prosecutors allege, falsely presupposed to be fee for development work at Myrtle Seashore Safari however have been in actuality supposed to function proof that the recipients had professional earnings.
In keeping 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 have been each arrested Friday. Attorneys for each males didn't instantly touch upon the costs when reached through e mail.
In keeping 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 targeted on tiger breeders and personal zoo operators within the U.S. The collection targeted 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 costs.
In Might, Folks for the Moral Remedy 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 website in Socastee exterior Myrtle Seashore.
“It’s becoming that ‘Doc’ Antle is behind bars after years of locking up the endangered animals he makes use of in tawdry photograph 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 costs, in addition to 13 misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act and animal cruelty costs tied to trafficking lion cubs. These costs 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. Through the years, he has greater than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals.
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Meg Kinnard could be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
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