‘Tiger King’ Doc Antle
‘Total Vindication’ After Lion Cub Convictions Tossed
Published
“Tiger King” star Doc Antle is celebrating a huge legal win … after Virginia’s Supreme Court threw out all of his remaining convictions stemming from his lion cub purchases.
Antle had been convicted on charges tied to buying lion cubs from a Virginia zoo owner in 2018 and 2019. But Virginia’s highest court ruled the law prosecutors used never actually made it illegal to purchase the animals.
The justices found the statute banned the sale of endangered species — not the purchase of them — and tossed Antle’s convictions and the indictments behind them.
The court also threw out Antle’s conspiracy convictions, ruling the charges were based in part on conduct that wasn’t actually a crime.
Antle called the decision “total vindication” in a press release … saying, “Today the highest court in Virginia confirmed what I have said since the day these charges were filed: I broke no law. Not one.”
Of course, this isn’t the end of Antle’s legal saga. TMZ previously reported the Myrtle Beach Safari owner was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison last July after admitting to wildlife trafficking and money laundering conspiracy charges involving cheetahs, lions, tigers and a chimpanzee.
But when it comes to the Virginia lion cub case … Doc just clawed back a huge win.