Joe Exotic ‘plans to marry former prisoner’

Joe Exotic plans to marry a man he met in prison.

The ‘Tiger King’ star has filed for a divorce from husband Dillon Passage, and he now hopes to marry his new love interest.

Autumn Blackledge, Joe’s lawyer, has told TMZ that he dreams of trying the knot with John Graham, after meeting him in prison.

Joe and Dillon were estranged for more than a year before the 59-year-old star – who shot to fame in the hit Netflix series – filed for a divorce.

Joe met John in February 2021, when they were both behind bars in Fort Worth, Texas.

John has subsequently been released, but his relationship with Joe remains strong and they’re keen to tie the knot one day.

Dillon, on the other hand, has also got another man in his life and is now looking to the future after his split from Joe.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Joe was resentenced to 21 years in prison.

The controversial star had his prison term reduced by one year by a federal judge, after he was convicted in a murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin.

Joe – whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage – was resentenced after a federal appeals court determined in 2021 that improper sentencing guidelines were previously used.

The former zookeeper was initially sentenced to 22 years in prison. But his attorneys campaigned to have his sentence reduced, alleging “imperfect entrapment, sentencing manipulation, and outrageous government conduct”.

In a sentencing memorandum, they previously said: “From decisions made in the initial stages of the investigation to charging decisions to overzealous sentencing recommendations, one thing remains clear: this case was about doing whatever it took to put Mr. Maldonado-Passage behind bars for as long as possible.”