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'Tiger King': Joe Exotic speaks out after judge awards his zoo to Carole Baskin

June 4 (UPI) -- Joe Exotic on Thursday weighed in on a ruling that handed the zoo at the center of the Netflix documentary Tiger King to his rival Carole Baskin.

The management team for Joe Exotic, born Joe Maldonado-Passage, issued a statement regarding a judge's ruling to give Baskin control of the G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma.

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Maldonado-Passage is serving a 22-year prison sentence for a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin, animal abuse and other charges.

"This ruling is yet another emotional blow to an already fragile Joe, who has spent the past three straight months in solitary confinement," his management team wrote. "He has been completely unable to defend himself."

Maldonado-Passage's lawyers added that his legal team plans to file an appeal against the ruling.

The ruling on Monday awarded Baskin's Big Cat Rescue Corporation control of 16 acres of land in Garvin County, Okla., that hosts the zoo in addition to several cabins and vehicles.

A judge ordered the Greater Wynnewood Development Group, LLC, formerly owned by Maldonado-Passage, to vacate the zoo land within 120 days and remove all animals.

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