Joe Exotic’s lawyers to ‘urgently’ petition Trump for pardon following death of Tiger King’s father

Francis Schreibvogel died ‘recently’ of coronavirus complications

Joe Exotic’s lawyers are calling for him to be pardoned in time to attend the funeral of his father, who recently died of coronavirus complications.

The Tiger King star is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for animal abuse and his role in a murder-for-hire plot.

Since the Netflix docuseries about Exotic became a phenomenon in early 2020, he and his lawyers have regularly petitioned Donald Trump to pardon him for his crimes.

Adding to the urgency to pardon Exotic is the recent death of his father, Francis Schreibvogel. TMZ reports that Schreibvogel died of complications from Covid-19, with his funeral set to take place in Oklahoma on Saturday (9 January).

The site claims that Exotic’s lawyers hope to receive a pardon before Saturday, but will otherwise settle for a “day pass” or temporary release that allows the reality star to attend.

Today (6 January), Exotic’s lawyers are planning on boarding a private jet decorated with images of the Tiger King star to travel to Washington. TMZ reported in December that the team will meet with a “high level” government representative in the hope of getting the pardon.

Trump has publicly commented just once on Exotic’s pardon hopes. In April of last year, the outgoing president said that he didn’t know anything about the matter, before adding that he would “look into it”.

Joe Exotic speaks from prison in an episode of Tiger King (Netflix)

Tiger King revolved around the long-standing rivalry between Exotic, a prolific former tiger breeder who ran an exotic zoo, and big-cat rights activist Carole Baskin.