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Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The Oklahoma zookeeper best known as Joe Exotic in the Netflix series Tiger King was re-sentenced to 21 years in prison in a murder-for-hire plot to knock off a rival. Joseph Maldonado-Passage was originally sentenced to 264 months, of 22 years. U.S. District Judge shaved 12 months off that sentence to 252 months, of 21 years.
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Physicians diagnosed Maldonado-Passage with prostate cancer in November but he delayed radiation treatment to get an earlier re-sentencing hearing.
An appeals court had ruled that U.S. District Judge Scott Palk erred during Maldonado-Passage's original trial by not grouping together two murder-for-higher counts, opening the door for the re-sentencing.
While the new sentencing guidelines allowed for Palk to lower Maldonado-Passage's sentence to 17 years, he was not bound by them.
Maldonado-Passage has maintained his innocence throughout his 2019 trial, blaming what he called fabricated evidence and untruthful witnesses for his guilty sentencing.
