The prison sentence of Joseph Maldonado-Passage — more commonly known as Joe Exotic — was vacated by a federal appeals court on Wednesday.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court erred by not grouping his two murder-for-hire convictions at sentencing.
But that doesn't mean Maldonado-Passage will be released from prison, as his convictions were upheld. He will be re-sentenced at a later date and will likely receive a shorter sentence than the 22 years he originally received.
The former Wynnewood big cat breeder was found guilty by a jury in 2019 in two murder-for-hire plots and federal wildlife violations.
Maldonado-Passage was the focus of last year's popular Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.
He is currently being held at a federal prison medical center in Fort Worth, Texas.
