HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Once surrounded by majestic big cats and adoring fans, Bhagavan “Doc” Antle’s entourage today is one of lawyers and judges.

On Tuesday, the co-star of Netflix’s runaway docuseries hit “Tiger King” was handed a 12-month sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Dawson III after pleading guilty in November 2023 to federal conspiracy and money laundering charges.

Antle admitted to violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish, or plants, including federally protected animal species.

Antle’s rise and fall captured international headlines and brought more attention to the world of big cat breeding and training — oftentimes done outside of the law with black market help.

A California native, Antle founded Myrtle Beach Safari in 1982, eventually growing it into a 50-acre wildlife preserve that offers safari-like tours at nearly $400 a person. Antle is also the director of the Rare Species Fund, a nonprofit organization registered in South Carolina.

Here’s a look back at the saga that’s the Doc Antle story.

Feb. 10: Virginia court overturns pair of felony convictions against Tiger King star ‘Doc’ Antle

Antle scored a legal win in February after the Virginia Court of Appeals tossed a pair of felony convictions.

 Convicted in June 2023 on two counts each of purchasing an endangered species and conspiracy to sell or purchase an endangered species, his lawyers argued that his conviction of purchasing lion cubs was due to a misunderstanding of a Virginia statute that prohibits the sale of endangered species but not their purchase.

A jury acquitted Antle of five counts of animal cruelty, and Judge Alexander Iden dismissed four additional animal cruelty charges against Antle and all charges against his two adult daughters, The Winchester Star reported.

The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld Antle’s convictions for conspiracy to sell an endangered species.

May 30, 2024: Murrells Inlet man, ‘Doc’ Antle associate sentenced to prison for money laundering

A Murrells Inlet man was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after pleading guilty to money laundering, according to a news release by the United States Department of Justice.

William Dallis, 57, of Murrells Inlet, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after pleading guilty to money laundering.

An Antle accomplice, he admitted to money laundering, the Justice Department said.

Evidence presented to the court showed that from June 2021 to April 2022, Dallis conducted financial transactions with cash he believed was obtained from transporting and harboring illegal aliens, the release said.

To conceal and disguise the nature of the illegal cash, Dallis would take the cash received and deposit it into a bank account he controlled.

Dallis would then write a check to the individual who had provided the cash after taking a percentage fee per transaction. The evidence presented revealed that Dallis received approximately $560,000.00 in cash from the individual.

Nov. 6, 2023: ‘Doc’ Antle pleads guilty to federal conspiracy, money-laundering charges, U.S. Justice Department says

Antle pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and money laundering charges.

The Justice Department said he conspired to violate the Lacey Act between September 2018 and May 2020 by directing the sale or purchase of two cheetah cubs, two lion cubs, two tigers and a juvenile chimpanzee — all of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Antle used bulk cash payments to hide the transactions and falsified paperwork to show non-commercial transfers entirely within one state. Antle also requested that payments for endangered species be made to his nonprofit so they could appear as “donations,” the DOJ said.

The investigation also uncovered evidence of money laundering between February and April 2022, when Antle and a coconspirator conducted financial transactions with cash that they believed was obtained from transporting and harboring illegal aliens. To conceal and disguise the nature of the illegal cash, Antle and a co-conspirator took the cash they received and deposited it into accounts they controlled. They would then write a check to the individual who had provided the cash after taking a 15% fee per transaction.

July 26, 2023: ‘Doc’ Antle co-defendant pleads guilty in wildlife-trafficking case

 An Antle co-defendant has withdrawn her not guilty plea from 2022 and entered a guilty plea to wildlife-trafficking charges in U.S. District Court in Florence.

Meredith “Moksha” Bybee entered a guilty plea on July 26, alleging she knowingly did or caused another to deliver, receive, carry, transport, ship, sell or offer for sale an endangered species.

June 30, 2023: Court modifies ‘Doc’ Antle’s bond, allows him to visit ‘loved one’ in Georgia

A U.S. magistrate in Florence signed an order that modified Antle’s bond, removing conditions for home detention and location monitoring and allowing him to travel out of South Carolina.

In court documents dated June 8, Antle’s attorneys said he had “complied with each and every condition of his bond” and that the court recently allowed another person in the case to leave the state.

Aug. 31, 2022: Feds accuse Antle of trying to sell Myrtle Beach Safari after he was arrested

The U.S. government filed a motion to modify Antle’s bond after he allegedly tried to sell Myrtle Beach Safari following his arrest for money laundering. Court documents allege that he tried to sell the safari to Sugriva Co LLC — which was formed by his reported wife days after his arrest.

The government asked the court to modify his bond to ban Antle from transferring the title of Myrtle Beach Safari or any animal listed under the Endangered Species Act, according to the documents.

A letter from York’s attorney said Antle will “Have no ownership or leadership role in operating Sugriva Co LLC. He will not serve on a board or direct the activities of the organization.”

That same month, the Rare Species Fund was moved to a “suspended” status by the South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office. The charity’s website states that it’s not accepting donations, which the suspended status bans.

June 30, 2022: Antle indicted by Florence grand jury

Antle was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florence for wildlife trafficking and money laundering charges.

He was charged alongside four other people. Those include 52-year-old Andrew Jon Sawyer, also known as Omar Sawyer, 51-year-old Meredith Bybee, also known as Moksha Bybee, 61-year-old Charles Sammut and 42-year-old Jason Clay.

Sawyer and Bybee are from Myrtle Beach. Summut is from Salinas, California, and Clay is from Franklin, Texas. Bybee is listed as the general manager of Myrtle Beach Safari on the zoo’s online staff list.

Sammut owns Vision Quest Ranch, which housed exotic animal species and sold tours, according to the announcement. Clay owns Franklin Drive Thru Safari, which also has exotic animals and tours.

PETA celebrated the decision.

“Kudos to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for doing what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has refused to do for years: crack down on ‘Doc’ Antle’s endangered-animal exploitation outfit,” PETA wrote in a statement. “PETA will keep pushing the USDA to do its job, revoke Antle’s license, and stop letting him profit from animals’ misery.”

June 6, 2022: Antle and employee charged with money laundering

A criminal complaint revealed Antle and Andrew Jon Sawyer, 52, of Myrtle Beach, laundered $505,000 in cash “they believed to be the proceeds of an operation to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Mexican border into the United States,” the Justice Department said in a release.

Antle and Sawyer “would launder the cash by providing checks from a business controlled by Antle and a business controlled by Sawyer,” according to the release.

The checks falsely stated they were remitted for construction work at the safari. Antle and Sawyer received a 15% fee of the laundered amount, according to the release.

Antle allegedly discussed his plan to conceal the money by inflating tourist numbers at Myrtle Beach Safari, according to a news release.

A confidential informant went to the safari in 2019 to meet with Antle, according to the documents. The informant told an employee that they could assist them with a $200,000 transaction, but that there would be a 6% charge and up to a six-day wait. An employee said they’d alert Antle.

June 3, 2022: Antle booked in Horry County jail

The FBI booked Antle into Horry County’s J. Reuben Long Detention Center with no immediate charges, but a PETA statement hinted at what was about to come.

“It’s fitting that ‘Doc’ Antle is behind bars after years of locking up the endangered animals he uses in tawdry photo ops,” PETA said in the statement. “His legal woes are mounting, as PETA recently blew the whistle on his apparent “charity” scam, and the end to his reign of terrorizing tiger cubs can’t come soon enough.”

Dec. 14, 2021: Antle calls Tiger King series “a wild tabloid tale”

When Netflix released “Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story” in mid-December 2021, it quickly became the platform’s most talked-about series, in part due to allegations that Antle had sex with underage girls and was physically abusive to others.

“They made stuff up to create a program that someone would watch, they never said it was a documentary, no one says it’s the truth, they just put it out there as a wild tabloid tale,” Antle, the owner of the Myrtle Beach Safari Park, told News13. “Everything that was the truth in ‘Tiger King’ was kind of taken away and given back in ‘Tiger King 2’ as a lie, well that’s all they got is a crazy set of stories that are half-truths that never really happened.”

Oct. 9, 2020: Antle indicted on wildlife trafficking charges in Virginia

According to an investigation by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s Animal Law Unit, Antle and Keith A. Wilson, the owner of Wilson’s Wild Animal Park in Frederick County, Virginia, trafficked lion cubs between Virginia and Antle’s Myrtle Beach Safari park.

Antle was charged with one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to wildlife traffic, four misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act, and nine misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

His daughters were also facing charges. Tawny Antle was charged with one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals and one misdemeanor count of violating the Endangered Species Act, and Tilakum Watterson was charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.

Antle would receive a $10,000 bond in November.