Zookeeper ‘Joe Exotic’ sentence to 22 years in prison for Florida murder-for-hire plot

A once-Internet-famous Oklahoma zookeeper will spend decades in jail for trying to murder a Florida animal sanctuary founder.

Known for his blonde mullet and expletive-laden rants on YouTube, Maldonado-Passage, also known as 'Joe Exotic,' appeared on John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" when he was a 2016 write-in candidate for president.

The next year, he announced his candidacy as a Libertarian candidate for Oklahoma governor, ultimately finishing third in a three-way primary.

This year, he's looking at 22 years in prison for a murder-for-hire plot which targeted a Florida animal sanctuary founder, Carole Baskin, who outspokenly criticized his treatment of animals.

He also is accused of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.

On his Facebook page, Maldonado-Passage writes, “I still maintain my innocence and looking forward in the upcoming days to my attorneys filing my appeal and moving onto the next step in this nightmare.”

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Last April, he was convicted after a jury heard he paid a man $3,000 to travel to Florida and kill Baskin.

He promised more money upon her death.

The argument said Maldonado-Passage was upset that Baskin had won a million-dollar civil judgment against him.

After that failed, he offer $10,000 to another man to do the job.

But THAT man was an undercover FBI agent who recorded their conversation and played it back during the trial.

The whole court room heard Maldonado-Passage tell the agent, "Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off."

Even though Maldonado-Passage’s attorneys had fought for lenience on the grounds of their client’s poor health and clean criminal record, the prosecutors ended up being satisfied with the sentencing.