Tiger King

Federal prosecutors in South Carolina say "Tiger King" star Bhagavan "Doc" Antle has been charged with buying or selling endangered lemurs, cheetahs, and a chimpanzee without the proper paperwork. The latest charges released Thursday are on top of money laundering counts, where authorities said Antle tried to hide more than half a million dollars made in an operation to smuggle people across the Mexican border into the United States. The U.S. Endangered Species Act requires permission to buy or move any endangered species in captivity and prosecutors said Antle, two of his employees and owners of safari tours in Texas and California all broke the law.

UPDATE - "Tiger King" star Bhagavan "Doc" Antle has been charged with laundering more than half a million dollars. Federal prosecutors said Monday that the wild animal trainer believed the money was the proceeds of an operation to smuggle people across the Mexican border into the United States. Antle and a co-defendant, Omar Sawyer, were arrested Friday and each face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Their attorneys did not immediately comment on the charges. 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.