Celebrity
‘Tiger King’ Star ‘Doc’ Antle Convicted Of Wildlife Trafficking In Virginia, 119 Animals Seized
WINCHESTER, Virginia – The attorney general’s office said Tuesday that a wild animal trainer, ‘Doc’ Antle, featured in the hit Netflix series “Tiger King” was convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia.
Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a news release that Bhagavan “Doc” Antle was accused of illegally purchasing endangered lion kittens in Frederick County, Virginia, for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo. On Friday, a jury found Doc guilty of two felony counts of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in wildlife.
Antle, the owner of the Myrtle Beach Safari, appears in the Netflix documentary miniseries “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness,” which focuses on tiger breeders.
According to The Winchester Star, a jury cleared Doc of five counts of animal cruelty. Judge Alexander Iden dismissed four further animal cruelty charges against Antle and all allegations against his two adult daughters.
Wild animal trainer, ‘Doc’ Antle, featured in the hit Netflix series “Tiger King,” was convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia.
Prosecutor Michelle Welch said Antle was motivated to keep a regular supply of juvenile lion cubs from Wilson’s Wild Animal Park near Winchester, referring to the agreement as a “cub pipeline” from Virginia to South Carolina.
According to Welch, when Antle and the park’s former owner, Keith Wilson, started doing business in 2015, it was still allowed to purchase and sell lions. However, after lions were declared endangered in December 2015, they could only be exchanged between zoos and wildlife preserves that were part of a well-established breeding program and had licenses. Welch reported three unlawful cub swaps in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Antle was charged with various offenses in 2020, including felony counts of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy. In August 2019, 119 animals were taken from Wilson’s roadside zoo, including lions, tigers, bears, camels, goats, and water buffalo, after a judge determined that Wilson “cruelly treated, neglected, or deprived” of necessary care.
According to Wilson, Doc paid him in advance under the guise of a contribution. Except for a 2017 transaction in which Doc sold three lynx kittens for three lion cubs, he said Antle paid $2,500 to $3,000 for each cub.
Wild animal trainer, ‘Doc’, featured in the hit Netflix series “Tiger King,” was convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia.
Wilson faces nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and ten felony counts of selling an endangered species, with a hearing scheduled for Friday.
According to defense attorney Erin Harrigan, Antle’s prosecution was politically motivated in response to a growing public uproar against wild animals being used for entertainment.
“This has been an agenda in search of a crime from the beginning of the investigation,” Harrigan explained.
Harrigan insisted that the cubs were a gift from Antle, who sent Wilson cash for a larger tiger enclosure.
“These were not sales,” stated Harrigan.
Antle, who faces up to 20 years in prison, was permitted to remain free on bond until his sentence on September 14.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Doctor Charged In Connection With Matthew Perry’s Death Is Expected To Plead Guilty
Los Angeles — One of two doctors indicted in the investigation into Matthew Perry’s death is set to plead guilty Wednesday in a Los Angeles federal court to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors in August, becoming the third individual to plead guilty following the “Friends” star’s tragic overdose last year.
Prosecutors proposed lower charges to Chavez and two others in exchange for their assistance as they pursued two people they believe are more culpable for the overdose death: another doctor and an alleged dealer known as the “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles.
Doctor Charged In Connection With Matthew Perry’s Death Is Expected To Plead Guilty
His lawyer, Matthew Binninger, stated following Chavez’s initial court appearance on Aug. 30 that he is “incredibly remorseful” and “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here.”
Perry’s assistant, who admitted to assisting him in obtaining and injecting ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to serving as a drug courier and intermediary, are also cooperating with federal authorities.
The three are assisting prosecutors in their case of Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who is accused of unlawfully selling ketamine to Perry in the month preceding his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who officials claim provided the actor the lethal quantity of ketamine. Both pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
In his guilty deal, Chavez admitted to obtaining ketamine from his prior clinic as well as a wholesale distributor to whom he submitted a bogus prescription.
After pleading guilty, he might face up to ten years in jail when sentenced.
Perry was discovered deceased by his assistant on October 28. The medical examiner concluded that ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been taking the medicine as prescribed by his regular doctor, which is a legitimate but off-label treatment for depression that is becoming more widespread.
Doctor Charged In Connection With Matthew Perry’s Death Is Expected To Plead Guilty
Perry started requesting more ketamine than his doctor would give him. About a month before his death, the actor saw Plasencia, who then begged Chavez to procure the medication for him.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez. They met on the same day in Costa Mesa, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and swapped at least four ketamine vials.
After selling the pills to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia asked Chavez if he could continue to supply them so they could become Perry’s “go-to.”
Perry suffered from addiction for many years, beginning with his time on “Friends,” when he rose to prominence as Chandler Bing. From 1994 until 2004, he starred with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer in NBC’s megahit sitcom.
SOURCE | AP
Celebrity
Daniel Day-Lewis Ends Acting Retirement For A Movie Directed By His Son
NEW YORK — Daniel Day-Lewis is returning from retirement, seven years after his last film, for a film directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis.
The collaboration was unveiled Tuesday by Focus Features and Plan B, who are working together on “Anemone.” The film, Ronan Day-Lewis’ directorial debut, will feature his father, Sean Bean, and Samantha Morton. The two Day-Lewises co-wrote the picture.
Earlier Tuesday, Daniel Day-Lewis and Bean were seen riding a motorbike around Manchester, England, fuelling speculation about his anticipated return to acting. After completing Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film “Phantom Thread,” the 67-year-old announced his retirement from performing.
Daniel Day-Lewis Ends Acting Retirement For A Movie Directed By His Son
“All my life, I’ve mouthed off about how I should stop acting, and I don’t know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion,” the actor told W Magazine in 2017. “It was something I had to do.”
He has made few public appearances since then. In January, he made an unexpected appearance at the National Board of Review Awards, when he presented an award to Martin Scorsese, who directed him in “Gangs of New York” (2002) and “The Age of Innocence” (1993).
“Anemone,” which is now under production, is characterized as looking at “the intricate relationships between fathers, sons, and brothers, as well as the dynamics of familial bonds.”
Daniel Day-Lewis Ends Acting Retirement For A Movie Directed By His Son
“We could not be more excited to partner with a brilliant visual artist in Ronan Day-Lewis on his first feature film, alongside Daniel Day-Lewis as his creative collaborator,” said Peter Kujawski, chair of Focus Features. “They have written a truly exceptional script, and we look forward to bringing their shared vision to audiences alongside the team at Plan B.”
SOURCE | AP
Celebrity
John Ashton, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Actor, Dies At 76
NEW YORK — John Ashton, the veteran character actor who famously played the gruff but endearing police investigator John Taggart in the ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ movie, died. He was 76.
John passed away on Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, according to a statement released on Sunday by Ashton’s manager, Alan Somers. No cause of death was immediately determined.
John Ashton, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Actor, Dies At 76
In a career spanning more than 50 years, John was a familiar face across TV shows and films, including “Midnight Run,” “Little Big League,” and “Go Baby Gone.”
But in the “Beverly Hills Cop” movie, John was an integral part of an unforgettable triumvirate. Though Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley, a Detroit detective investigating a crime in Los Angeles, was the main character, the two local detectives — Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Ashton’s Taggart — were Axel’s sometimes reluctant, sometimes eager accomplices.
Of the three, Taggart — “Sarge” to Billy — was the more fearful, by-the-book detective. But he was constantly lured into Axel’s ideas. Ashton co-starred in all four films, beginning with the 1984 original and continuing through the Netflix reboot, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” which debuted earlier this year.
Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest’s 1988 buddy comedy “Midnight Run.” In “The Duke,” he played a rival bounty hunter who is simultaneously hunting Charles Grodin’s wanted accountant while he is in the hands of Robert De Niro’s Jack Walsh.
John Ashton, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Actor, Dies At 76
In a July interview with Collider, John discussed auditioning with De Niro.
“Bobby started handing me these matches, and I tried to grab the matches, and he dropped them on the floor and stared at me,” Ashton recalled.” “I looked at the matches, then looked up and said, ‘F—- you,’ to which he replied, ‘F—- you, too.’ I said, ‘Go —- yourself.’ I know every other actor picked those up and delivered them to him, and as soon as I left, he said, ‘I want him,’ because he needed someone to stand up to him.”
John is survived by his wife of 24 years, Robin Hoye, his two daughters, three stepchildren, a grandson, two sisters, and a brother.
SOURCE | AP
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