Doc Antle’s employee reaches plea in federal case. What’s that mean for ‘Tiger King’ star?
An employee and co-defendant of Bhagavan “Doc” Antle in his federal criminal case reached a plea deal Tuesday with the government.
Meredith “Moksha” Bybee agreed to plea guilty to one misdemeanor violation of the Endangered Species Act in exchange for prosecutors dropping any other charges against her, according to court records.
Bybee has been living at working with Antle at Myrtle Beach Safari for more than 20 years, according to her social media pages.
Antle, who was featured in the hit Netflix series “Tiger King,” was recently convicted in Virginia on four counts of buying endangered animals and is facing money laundering and wildlife trafficking charges in the pending federal case. An attorney representing him in the federal case did not return a voicemail Wednesday seeking comment.
As part of the plea deal, Bybee agreed to fully cooperate with the government’s investigation, including submitting to a polygraph if requested, and surrender any interest she may have in animals that are subjects of the indictment, court records show.
Two of those animals listed in the plea agreement are chimpanzees named Angada and Tara, who Bybee recently featured in a video celebrating their birthdays on her YouTube channel.
Deborah Barbier, an attorney representing Bybee, declined to comment on whether the plea deal meant the government wanted her client to testify against Antle.
Barbier emphasized that the charge Bybee is pleading guilty to only deals with the transportation of the animal and doesn’t mean any animal was endangered by her client, who is an avid animal lover. She added that Bybee is currently away from Myrtle Beach Safari spending time with family.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 2:55 PM.
