'I Have Faith I'm Going to Walk Out of Here'

Joe Exotic dishes on life in prison and his hopes for the future

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It’s been four years since Tiger King’s self-described “gay, gun-toting cowboy with a mullet” Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage became a household name. Now the former zookeeper, 61, is awaiting to hear if his conviction for animal abuse and the alleged murder-for-hire plot on rival Carole Baskin will be overturned in 2025. If so, Maldonado-Passage — who’s currently incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas — has big plans. “I want to testify in front of Congress about the prison and justice system [and] what really goes on in here,” he tells Us. Here, he shares some wild updates from life behind bars.