Wildlife impresario and onetime Netflix documentary star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months and a day in federal prison, capping a long run in the national spotlight that accelerated with the Covid-era hit show “Tiger King.”
The flamboyant founder of Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the wildlife-protecting Lacey Act and one count of conspiracy to launder money.
In addition to the yearlong incarceration, Antle was ordered to pay a $55,000 fine and serve three years of supervised release after prison. He must also forfeit three chimpanzees and hand over more than $197,000 to the federal government.
“Doc Antle portrayed himself as a conservationist. But in reality, he was a key player in the illegal chimpanzee trade, and he laundered more than half a million dollars through a complex web of deceit,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina, said in a statement.
