Joe Exotic Fears That His Cancer May Have Spread: "I Am Going to Let It Take Me"

Ever since Joe Exotic (real name: Joseph Maldonado-Passage) was convicted for a murder-for-hire plot, the Tiger King: Madness, Murder, and Mayhem star has been cooling his heels in federal prison. While there have been talks about the Joe getting released from prison early, for the time being, he’s been very candid about his experiences behind bars. And his truth has been heartbreaking for fans to hear.

While Joe already confirmed his prostate cancer diagnosis, it looks like his condition has worsened. So, what is the update on Joe Exotic’s health? And what's going on with his prison sentence? Read on as we give you the 4-1-1.

The lack of adequate medical care in prisons across the U.S. is nothing new, but now, Joe Exotic’s health update is shining more light on the issue.

In an interview with The Sun, Joe opened up about not being able to get any type of treatment and fearing for his life.

“I have been waiting for a colonoscopy and endoscopy since October,” Joe said to the outlet. “Medical treatment in a prison is worse than at any humane society for dogs.”

The former tiger breeder went on to share that prison medics believe that his cancer has spread, due to his current symptoms.

“They are concerned it is in my stomach and pelvis,” Joe explained. “I have not had any treatment or anything since May. I puke when I pee — the pain is that bad.”

Joe revealed that not only is the pain unbearable, he’s also lost weight and limps when he walks. Making matters worse, Joe can only hope to be taken to a specialist to see what exactly is going on.

“When we find out where and how bad it is, I will decide if I am going to do treatment,” Joe told the outlet. “If it's stage three or four, I am going to let it take me.”

Despite Joe’s medical issues, he is still sticking to his innocence. The Netflix star was convicted on "two charges of trying to pay assassins to kill Carole Baskin, eight counts for faking wildlife records, and nine counts involving his killing and selling tigers, which are an endangered species," per BuzzFeed News.

In fact, Joe’s team has been busy working on appealing his case, but their latest efforts only produced a small win.

BuzzFeed reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld the reality star's conviction in July 2021. However, they ordered for Joe Exotic to be resentenced, since there was an error when they initially calculated his sentence.

The federal court said that at the time of Joe's sentencing in January 2020, the judge didn’t group together the two counts, despite that they ''shared a common criminal objective” and were part of the same “course of conduct.”

If Joe’s two counts of murder-for-hire convictions were indeed grouped together initially, it turns out that his prison sentence could be as low as 17-and-a-half years.

Now, Joe’s team awaits the court’s decision on modifying his 22-year sentence.