Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, was arrested by the FBI, Friday, June 3, 2022, on federal cash laundering costs.
AP
Bond has been set for “Tiger King” star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle on costs he laundered greater than half one million dollars, cash federal prosecutors have stated that he believed to be the proceeds of an operation to smuggle folks throughout the Mexican border into the US.
A federal choose in Florence, South Carolina, on Monday set a $250,000 secured bond for Antle, who was nonetheless listed as being held in jail as of Monday night. Federal prosecutors stated it might take a day to course of his launch, after which Antle might be confined to his 50-acre (20-hectare) wildlife tropical protect in Socastee, exterior Myrtle Seaside.
Prosecutors had argued in courtroom filings that Antle ought to stay in custody previous to his trial as a result of he's a flight threat, noting his “vital monetary assets” and “contacts that know learn how to make false identification paperwork.”
Arguing for his launch, Antle’s attorneys stated the 62-year-old has no prior convictions and suffers from an irregular heartbeat and hypertension, “which may exacerbate the signs of COVID-19 ought to Antle contract the illness whereas he's incarcerated.”
Expenses in opposition to Antle and Andrew Jon Sawyer, considered one of Antle’s workers at Myrtle Seaside Safari, have been revealed throughout a federal courtroom listening to earlier this month.
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 via their fingers.
The checks, prosecutors allege, falsely presupposed to be fee for development work at Myrtle Seaside Safari however have been in actuality supposed to function proof that the recipients had respectable earnings.
In keeping with a federal criticism, Antle mentioned his plan to hide the money he obtained by inflating vacationer numbers at his wildlife protect. Prosecutors additionally stated he had beforehand used bulk money receipts to buy animals for which he couldn't use checks.
In keeping with authorities, Antle and Sawyer every face a most of 20 years in federal jail if convicted. Sawyer was launched earlier this month on $100,000 bond, in line with courtroom data.
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 faces a number of costs in Virginia, together with animal cruelty, wildlife trafficking and 13 misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act.
Federal prosecutors stated Antle was on bond for these state costs when he dedicated his alleged crimes in South Carolina.
In Might, Folks 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 number of the fund’s cash to subsidize his safari website.
In an announcement Monday, Michelle Sinnott, affiliate director of PETA’s Captive Animal Regulation Enforcement Division, stated that a federal agent who testified at Antle’s detention listening to “made it clear that extra federal costs are anticipated throughout the 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 had greater than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals.
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