'Tiger King' co-star Bhagavan Antle gets 12-month federal prison sentence
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WBTW) -- Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, whose meteoric rise through the world of big cats was vaulted into fame through a 2021 Netflix docuseries, is headed to federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges.
Antle, 65, was handed a sentence of 12 months and one day on Tuesday in U.S. District Court's Charleston division by Judge Joseph Lawson III. His sentencing comes nearly two years after he admitted to violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish or plants, including federally protected animal species.
Antle was also sentenced to three years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence and fined $55,000. He's best known as the founder of the wildlife preserve Myrtle Beach Safari.
"I made a mistake. I did stupid things that never should have taken place and I'm hoping to pull it back together," Antle said shortly before his sentencing.
The traditionally media-friendly Antle refused to speak with reporters after a three-hour-long court appearance, including about what his imprisonment means for the future of his operation.
The Justice Department said he conspired to violate the Lacey Act between September 2018 and May 2020 by directing the sale or purchase of two cheetah cubs, two lion cubs, two tigers and a juvenile chimpanzee, all of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Antle used bulk cash payments to hide the transactions and falsified paperwork to show non-commercial transfers entirely within one state. Antle also requested that payments for endangered species be made to his nonprofit so they could appear as “donations,” the DOJ said.
The investigation also uncovered evidence of money laundering between February and April 2022, when Antle and a co-conspirator conducted financial transactions with cash that they believed was obtained from transporting and harboring illegal aliens. To conceal and disguise the nature of the illegal cash, Antle and a co-conspirator took the cash and deposited it into accounts they controlled. They would then write a check to the person who had provided the cash, after taking a 15% fee per transaction.
A representative for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement immediately after Antle was sentenced, vowing to shut down Antle's Myrtle Beach Safari.
"Antle will finally learn how it feels to be stripped of freedom, locked in a cage, and have every moment of every day controlled," said Brittany Peet, the PETA Foundation general counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement. "But unlike Antle, the animals he sentenced to life at his sleazy roadside zoo have committed no crimes, and PETA will work to shut down Myrtle Beach Safari and ensure that the exploited big cats, chimpanzees, and other endangered animals still imprisoned there are released to reputable facilities where they will get the care they so desperately need and deserve."
Prosecutors depicted Antle as the central figure in a nationwide black market that bought, sold and transported federally protected animals for decades without consequence behind the guise of a conservationist.
"Mr. Antle is who all these people are imitating," said Patrick Duggan, a Justice Department attorney who specializes in environmental cases. "People want to emulate what he has done. He has become wealthy and famous doing it."
Dugan said that despite the quality care the illegal animals might have received once in Antle's possession, his actions helped promote poaching, smuggling and other criminal behavior.
"In the pursuit of all those endangered species for profit, he is driving a very lucrative trade," Duggan said. "This was a long-term, ongoing offense."
More than 20 Antle supporters, including friends and family, were at Tuesday’s sentencing, including one of his granddaughters who wept when describing Antle's devotion.
Paul Butler, a former Horry County Police Department chief deputy, said in his nearly 30-year friendship with Antle, he never heard anything alarming.
"We had countless conversations and never during that time have I heard him talk about anything shady, anything inept," Butler said. "Had that happened, I could not continue being friends."
A California native, Antle founded Myrtle Beach Safari in 1982, eventually growing it into a 50-acre wildlife preserve that offers safari-like tours at nearly $400 a person. Antle is also the director of the Rare Species Fund, a nonprofit organization registered in South Carolina.
He has 60 days to self-surrender, a Department of Justice spokesman said.
This is a developing story. Count on News13 for updates.