Myrtle Beach ‘Tiger King’ star in court. Here are the new legal issues facing ‘Doc’ Antle
Myrtle Beach Safari will continue to be without its leader, detained on federal money laundering charges and facing additional charges and possible extradition.
A judge Thursday in the Bhagavan “Doc” Antle case heard evidence in the detention hearing and is expected to issue a ruling in the coming days.
But even if the judge does grant bond, Antle’s freedom may be short-lived.
Antle is expected to face additional federal charges related to wildlife trafficking from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the next 30 days, according to an FBI special agent, who was the lone witness in court Thursday.
Antle also could face extradition to Virginia for violating his bond conditions on felony charges he’s facing there, though defense attorneys noted they had heard prosecutors there wouldn’t be seeking to put him in jail.
Prosecutor Amy Bower made the case during Thursday’s hearing that Antle presented a significant flight risk due to access to a large amount of funds, private planes and relationships with people outside of the country.
FBI special agent Tim Quigley revealed that in the days following Antle’s arrest, more than $730,000 was drained from the Myrtle Beach Safari bank account, which authorities had informed him would be seized.
Bower later told the court that those funds were moved to six separate accounts that Antle had access to, and they were planning to seek warrants to seize those as well.
Andrew Moorman, one of Antle’s attorneys, later countered that no evidence was presented to suggest Antle directed that money be moved. He also noted that the nature of Antle’s business requires lots of funds going in and out of accounts due to the high cost of caring for the animals.
The prosecution also played a brief video recording of an interaction between Antle and the confidential informant, where Antle can be heard stating that he knew a person that could help obtain Social Security cards from dead people, which Bower argued could help Antle flee the country with fake identification.
Antle has shown “a complete disregard for law enforcement,” Bower said, though Moorman countered that Antle has never been convicted of any criminal offense and willingly surrendered to authorities when they came to arrest him.
Antle, one of the stars of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King,” was arrested June 3 by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and charged with laundering more than $500,000.
Antle’s case for being released from jail
His attorneys argued that bond should be granted for the 62 year old due to various health concerns and a lack of previous criminal convictions, while the government countered that his alleged actions occurred while he was already on bond for other felony charges.
Antle is facing animal trafficking and animal cruelty charges pending in Virginia, with a trial currently set for Oct. 31.
Antle’s attorneys emphasized in their motion for bond that Antle loves animals and needs to return home to ensure the continued success of Myrtle Beach Safari, a 50-acre preserve with various exotic animals including tigers and lions in the Socastee area of Horry County.
“Simply put, without Antle’s presence and leadership, the animals, the employees’ jobs, and MBS itself are endangered,” their motion states.
Antle also needs to care for his mother, who suffers from worsening dementia, while Antle himself suffers from an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and other physical ailments, his attorneys noted.
Ryan Beasley, one of Antle’s attorneys, previously sent a statement to The Sun News admonishing the government for attempting to keep his client detained despite a lack of criminal convictions and not being a flight risk.
He accused prosecutors of “grandstanding” due to media coverage and kowtowing to animal rights activists that have long been critical of Antle.
Money laundering tied to illegal smuggling operation
The money laundering charges stem from a sting operation involving a confidential informant, who told Antle and his employee, Andrew Jon “Omar” Sawyer, that the money he needed help laundering came from an operation illegally smuggling immigrants into the United States across the Mexican border, according to the complaint.
Sawyer, who is facing the same charges, has his detention hearing Friday. Quigley, the FBI special agent, told the court that he understands the government is expected to grant Sawyer bond.
Sawyer is also accused of violating a civil contempt order in Missouri related to his ownership of a chimpanzee named Joey, Quigley said. Antle knowingly helped Sawyer and Joey hide at his facility, Bower alleged.
Antle and Sawyer provided checks from their businesses that falsely claimed they were for construction work being performed at Myrtle Beach Safari, also known as The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), the complaint states.
But the checks were actually just a way to allow the recipients to appear to have legitimate income, while Antle and Sawyer received about 15% fee of any money laundered, federal authorities allege. They kept $73,500, according to the complaint.
A third defendant, William James “Bill” Dallis, is facing a separate but related federal money laundering charge. He’s the one who introduced the confidential informant to Antle, according to the complaint.
Dallis was granted $75,000 unsecured bond and released June 6 from J. Reuben Long Detention Center, online detention records show.
Doc’s role in Netflix’s “Tiger King”
Antle’s arrest has drawn widespread media attention, likely due to him being featured in the Netflix series “Tiger King,” which focused on a boisterous animal exhibitor in Oklahoma named Joseph Maldonado-Passage, or Joe Exotic.
Antle is accused throughout the show of operating a cult, euthanizing tiger cubs and having inappropriate relationships with underage girls. He was denied all these accusations and never faced any criminal charges related to those allegations.
If he’s convicted, Antle would join Exotic in the federal prison system, where Exotic remains after being sentenced to 22 years for attempting to hire someone to murder Carole Baskin, an outspoken animal rights activist who operates a big cat sanctuary near Tampa, Florida.
Several other people featured in the series, including Jeff Lowe and Tim Stark, have also faced criminal charges since the show first aired.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 4:20 PM.
