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WEBVTT CURRENT PARK OWNERS ABOUT THIS BOMBSHELL ALLEGATION. >> THEY CANNOT GOING CAMERA, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THEY HAVE BEEN ASSISTING AUTHORITIES TO FACILITATE HIS ARREST. AS FAR AS THE ANIMALS GO, AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY ARE OK. LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS, THEY WERE JOE’S EXCITING THING FOR YEARS. BUT JOSEPH MALDANADO IS FACING A VERY SERIOUS CHARGE OF MURDER FOR HIRE. THE U.S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SAYS JOE TRIED TO HIRE AN UNNAMED PERSON IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR TO KILL JANE DOE IN FLORIDA. DOCUMENTS SAY HE GAVE THAT UNNAMED PERSON $3000 TO DO IT SAYING THE PERSON WAS TOLD TO GO , T DALLAS TO GET A FAKE ID. THAT UNNAMED PERSON WOULD LATER GO TO SOUTH CAROLINA IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR. IN ANOTHER ACCOUNT, HE’S ACCUSED OF ASKING DIFFERENT PEOPLE TO FIND SOMEONE TO MURDER JANE DOE. AUTHORITIES SAY UNBEKNOWNST TO HIM, SOMEONE PUT HIM IN CONTACT WITH AN UNDERCOVER FBI AGENT IN DECEMBER OF 2017 TO DISCUSS THE DETAILS OF THIS PLOT TO KILL. IT WAS FOILED AND HE WAS ARRESTED FRIDAY IN FLOR

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Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joseph Allen Maldonado, Joseph Allen Schreibvogel, and “Joe Exotic,” 55, formerly of Wynnewood, Oklahoma, has been indicted on two counts of hiring a person to commit murder, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday that accuses Maldonado-Passage of hiring an unnamed person in Nov. 2017 to murder “Jane Doe” in FloridaAccording to the indictment, Maldonado-Passage gave the unnamed person $3,000 to travel from Oklahoma to South Carolina and then to Florida to carry out the murder. He allegedly agreed to pay thousands more after the deed, officials said. The indictment alleges Maldonado-Passage caused the person to travel to Dallas to get fake identification for use in the plot. According to the indictment, the person traveled from Oklahoma to South Carolina on Nov. 26, 2017.In a second count, the indictment alleges that beginning in July 2016, Maldonado-Passage repeatedly asked a different unnamed person to find someone to murder Jane Doe in exchange for money. The second person put Maldonado-Passage in contact with an undercover FBI agent. Maldonado-Passage met with the undercover agent on December 8, 2017, to discuss details of murdering Jane Doe, according to officials with the justice department. Jane Doe did not suffer any physical harm, authorities said.The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Maldonado-Passage Friday in Gulf Breeze, Florida. He will make his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Pensacola Division of the Northern District of Florida, followed by further proceedings in the Western District of Oklahoma, officials said. If Maldonado-Passage is found guilty of murder-for-hire, he could be imprisoned on each count up to ten years, according to officials. He would also be subject to up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Green and Charles W. Brown are prosecuting the case.Maldonado-Passage was a Libertarian gubernatorial candidate during Oklahoma's primary elections. He is also known in Oklahoma for his involvement with the Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park.