The Tiger King: Joe Exotic writes to President-elect Donald Trump seeking presidential pardon

Internet sensation and controversial figure Joe Exotic has written to President-elect Donald Trump, felon to felon, seeking a presidential pardon.

The Tiger King star - who is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence after being found guilty of a murder-for-hire plot against rival Carole Baskin - is pushing to be released from jail and isn’t worried about the possibility of his criminal past holding him back in the future.

He told RadarOnline.com: “I don’t care because I can walk out of here and be successful being a felon. At this point, I just want to go home.”

The 61-year-old zoo keeper, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, believes prosecutors are currently “weighing out their options” when it comes to his possible release but doesn’t expect to see his name cleared entirely.

He said: “(They may) offer me time serve... or something else if they can keep that conviction because they don’t want to lose that conviction.”

Maldonado recently sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump’s new Attorney General, Pam Bondi, asking for her to pardon him after alleging Dan Ash, the director of the Federal Fish and Wildlife service, and agent Matthew Bryant “waged a war” against him.

He felt the pair had targeted him in order to “benefit Dan’s position as president of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (Baskin)“.

And that’s not all, as Maldonado alleged witnesses who testified against him were involved in “heinous crimes” of their own.

He wrote: “But the worst part is that the federal wildlife agents and two FBI agents who lead this conspiracy covered up some very heinous crimes in order to get three felons to play their corrupt games and they entrapped me for two fake murder-for-hire plots.

“These terrible people admitted to perjury, entrapment and a plot to kill me on the second season of the Tiger King documentary. People from around the world in 123 countries saw firsthand on world television (Netflix) that I was put in prison, my life destroyed and my parents are now dead- all for an agenda to make a movie and have a monopoly on big cats.

“Once you take your position you will have the power to take this evidence to the court and drop all charges based on this new evidence and allow me to return to the free world.

“None of this was about saving tigers or helping conservation of tigers. It was all about destroying Joseph Maldonado and taking his animals and property for free. I was kidnapped by America, and I deserve to be free.

“Seven years in prison is more than long enough for doing nothing wrong but no one committing perjury, entrapment, rape, bank fraud or sex trafficking has been charged. Why? The system failed thousands of victims and covered up the real true crimes of the horrible people who preyed upon an innocent man.”

- With AAP