South Carolina
‘Tiger King’ star set to be released on bond
Bond has been set for “Tiger King” star Bhagavan “Doc” Antle on charges he laundered more than half a million dollars, money federal prosecutors have said that he believed to be the proceeds of an operation to smuggle people across the Mexican border into the United States.
A federal judge in Florence, South Carolina, on Monday set a $250,000 secured bond for Antle, who was still listed as being held in jail as of Monday evening. Federal prosecutors said it would take a day to process his release, after which Antle will be confined to his 50-acre (20-hectare) wildlife tropical preserve in Socastee, outside Myrtle Beach.
Prosecutors had argued in court filings that Antle should remain in custody prior to his trial because he is a flight risk, noting his “significant financial resources” and “contacts that know how to make false identification documents.”
Arguing for his release, Antle’s attorneys said the 62-year-old has no prior convictions and suffers from an irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure, “which can exacerbate the symptoms of COVID-19 should Antle contract the disease while he is incarcerated.”
Charges against Antle and Andrew Jon Sawyer, one of Antle’s employees at Myrtle Beach Safari, were revealed during a federal court hearing earlier this month.
According to federal prosecutors, Antle and Sawyer laundered $505,000 over a four-month period by doling out checks from businesses they controlled, receiving a 15% fee of the money that passed through their hands.
The checks, prosecutors allege, falsely purported to be payment for construction work at Myrtle Beach Safari but were in reality intended to serve as evidence that the recipients had legitimate income.
According to a federal complaint, Antle discussed his plan to conceal the cash he received by inflating tourist numbers at his wildlife preserve. Prosecutors also said he had previously used bulk cash receipts to purchase animals for which he could not use checks.
According to authorities, Antle and Sawyer each face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Sawyer was released earlier this month on $100,000 bond, according to court records.
Antle is featured prominently in “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” a 2020 Netflix documentary miniseries that focused on tiger breeders and private zoo operators in the U.S. The series focused heavily on Oklahoma zoo operator Joe Exotic, who also was targeted for animal mistreatment and was convicted in a plot to kill a rival, Carole Baskin.
Animal rights advocates have accused Antle of mistreating lions and other wildlife. He faces multiple charges in Virginia, including animal cruelty, wildlife trafficking and 13 misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act.
Federal prosecutors said Antle was on bond for those state charges when he committed his alleged crimes in South Carolina.
In May, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked the IRS to probe Antle’s Rare Species Fund, a nonprofit raising money for wildlife conservation. PETA alleges he uses some of the fund’s money to subsidize his safari site.
In a statement Monday, Michelle Sinnott, associate director of PETA’s Captive Animal Law Enforcement Division, said that a federal agent who testified at Antle’s detention hearing “made it clear that additional federal charges are expected within the month.”
Antle has a history of recorded violations, going as far back as 1989, when he was fined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for abandoning deer and peacocks at his zoo in Virginia. Over the years, he has had more than 35 USDA violations for mistreating animals.
New Mexico
Governor orders safeguards for abortion access
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s Democratic governor took steps Monday to ensure safe harbor to people seeking abortions or providing abortions at health care facilities within the state.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order that prohibits cooperation with other states that might interfere with abortion access in New Mexico, declining to carry out any future arrest warrants from other states related to anti-abortion provisions. The order also prohibits most New Mexico state employees from assisting other states in investigating or seeking sanctions against local abortion providers.
“Residents seeking access will be protected, providers will be protected, and abortion is and will continue to be legal, safe and accessible, period,” said Lujan Grisham, who is running for a second term in November.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision and ended constitutional protection for abortion, the battle over abortion rights has shifted to lower courts around the country, as one side sought quickly to put statewide bans into effect and the other tried to stop or at least delay such measures.
Lujan Grisham has signaled her steadfast support for continuing legal access to abortion in New Mexico.
She also ordered a review to ensure that reproductive health care providers won’t be disqualified or disciplined by state professional licensure provisions under criteria from other states.
“It means we will not cooperate for any criminalization attempt,” Lujan Grisham said at a news conference at her Capitol offices. “I think you will see a coalition of states that really work to shut off access” to abortion.
Last year, Lujan Grisham signed legislation to repeal a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures.
New Mexico is likely to continue to see a steady influx of people seeking abortions from neighboring states with more restrictive abortion laws. It already hosts patients from Texas and Oklahoma, where strict abortion bans were adopted earlier this year.
Albuquerque is home to one of only a few independent clinics in the country that perform abortions in the third trimester without conditions. An abortion clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is just a mile from the state line with Texas near El Paso.
The Republican nominee for governor, former television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti, has proposed a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and when a mother’s life is at increased risk.
That legislative proposal was described as dead on arrival by Democratic state Senate Whip Linda Lopez of Albuquerque, who attended the news conference.
The owner of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization that is at the center of last week’s Supreme Court decision says that she plans to open a new clinic in Las Cruces, New Mexico, as soon as mid-July.
Lujan Grisham said she’ll encourage abortion providers to expand in New Mexico and consider possible financial incentives.
The governor said her administration would continue to pursue reductions in unplanned and unwanted pregnancies through state investments in family planning services and criminal justice programs, at the same time the state expands support for working families such as access to free child care.
“We should have fewer unwanted pregnancies. We should have fewer pregnancies from high risk issues, including violence, including rape,” she said. “We need to do more in the family planning and healthy-family space.”
