Joe Exotic, of 'Tiger King' fame, announces he's engaged again: 'Meet Jorge Marquez'
"Joe Exotic," star of popular Netflix series "Tiger King", announced through social media this week he is once again engaged.
The 61-year-old reality TV personality, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 21-year sentence in a Texas federal prison for the murder-for-hire case of rival zoo operator Carole Baskin.
A post on the former zoo operator's X page wrote: "Meet Jorge Marquez he is 33. He is so amazing and is from Mexico."
Maldonado-Passage went onto write his next move is getting married in prison and working to get Marquez asylum.
"Or we be (sic) leaving America when we both get out," the convicted felon added. "Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago.
Who was Joe Exotic married to before?
Maldonado-Passage was previously married to Travis Maldonado, who authorities said died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2017, the Associated Press reported.
Maldonado-Passage at one point had two husbands simultaneously: Maldonado and John Finlay. The three were joined in a union in 2014. Some acquaintances interviewed in the docuseries believe neither the men were gay but married for drugs and gifts.
Two months after Travis Maldonado's death, Maldonado-Passage was married to ex-husband Dillon Passage. The couple separated in 2021.
When will Joe Exotic be released from prison?
Maldonado-Passage, who previously ran Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma was convicted in a plot to kill Baskin, who operates an animal sanctuary in Florida.
At his 2019 trial, testimony revealed he targeted Baskin because she was actively seeking to collect court judgments against him of more than $1 million for trademark infringement and other civil violations. Jurors were also told he was angry because Baskin accused him of exploiting tiger cubs for profit at his zoo and on traveling shows.
The former Oklahoma zoo operator has steadfastly maintained his innocence and claims to have been set up.
Online Texas Department of Corrections online records show Maldonado-Passage's projected release date is Sept. 2, 2029.
Contributing: Erin Jensen, Nolan Clay
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X
@nataliealund.