PENSACOLA, Fla. – An Oklahoma zookeeper arrested in Gulf Breeze on a murder for hire plot was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Wednesday.

In April, a federal jury convicted Joseph Maldonado-Passage of trying to kill a long-time critic and perceived rival, Carole Baskin, CEO of the Tampa animal sanctuary Big Cat Rescue.

Maldonado-Passage also "personally shot and killed five tigers in October 2017," according to the Department of Justice, and falsified documents related to the sale of tigers, lions and a baby lemur.

The big cat breeder operated a roadside zoo in Oklahoma, where he developed a cult following for his larger-than-life personality, his platinum-blonde mullet and his online show documenting the lives of animals at his zoo. Maldonado-Passage unsuccessfully ran for president of the United States and governor of Oklahoma. He spent a brief period in Gulf Breeze before his arrest in September 2018.

"Joe Exotic":Tiger keeper, gubernatorial hopeful, arrested in Gulf Breeze for murder-for-hire plot

During a trial that began in March 2019, a jury heard evidence that Maldonado-Passage gave an individual $3,000 to travel from Oklahoma to South Carolina and then to Florida to murder Carole Baskin, with a promise to pay thousands more after she was dead, according to the DOJ.

in July 2016, Maldonado-Passage repeatedly sought someone to murder Baskin in exchange for money, which led to his meeting with an undercover FBI agent on Dec. 8, 2017. The jury heard a recording of his meeting with the agent to discuss details of the planned murder.

Baskin had been a vocal, long-time critic of Maldonado-Passage’s animal park, and she secured a million-dollar judgment against Maldonado-Passage after he began misrepresenting his zoo as Baskin's tiger rescue.

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