ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The "Tiger King" is again asking for a presidential pardon after he says he is showing signs of prostate cancer.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as "Joe Exotic," said in a Facebook post that his health is deteriorating.
"It is with a sad face that I say they ran a blood test and my PSA count came back very high for prostate cancer. The prison has called and approved a line of tests that will be done at the hospital here in Fort Worth to verify what stage it is in," Exotic wrote.
The much-talked-about Netflix series "Tiger King" brought Exotic's life and case back to the spotlight as the former Oklahoma zookeeper, singer and gubernatorial candidate is currently serving a 22-year sentence after being convicted in a murder-for-hire plot against Tampa's Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin.
Since then, the "Tiger King's" name made it all the way to the White House when former President Donald Trump was asked if a pardon for Exotic, who also attempted to run for president in 2016, was on the table.
Exotic's lawyer John Phillips, who is mentioned in his social media posts, told the New York Post his client has not been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and it remains premature to say he has it despite him showing the signs.
"I don't want anyone's pity, what I need is when John Phillips gets the evidence he is working on, I need the world to help him get President Biden, VP Harris and the Attorney General to listen to the evidence and see that it’s not just city cops out of control with corruption, but his very own Department of Justice and make this right and sign that pardon that Trump left behind so I can go home and get proper medical care and proper food," Exotic tweeted.
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