Joe Exotic tells fans medical test found 'aggressive cancer'

Joe Exotic is again telling fans from prison that he may not have long to live, this time because of prostate cancer.

In a handwritten letter shown on Twitter, the convicted felon wrote doctors called him Oct. 27 "to break the news that my prostate biopsy came back with an aggressive cancer."

"What I need is the world to be my voice to be released," he wrote. "They have the proof I did not do this and there is no reason for the U.S. attorney to drag this out so I can go home and get treatment on my own or enjoy what life I have left with my loved ones.

"Say a prayer please. Be my voice please."

More: Trailer for Tiger King 2 shows Joe Exotic in prison, Jeff Lowe with 'more money than God'

Joe Exotic became known worldwide last year because of the documentary series about his life, criminal case and his now-closed zoo in Wynnewood. Netflix began streaming "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" as the pandemic forced millions to stay home.

He was convicted at trial in 2019 of twice trying to have his chief critic, Carole Baskin, murdered. He is awaiting resentencing in Oklahoma City federal court.

He is being held at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth. His latest attorney, John M. Phillips of Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday confirmed the cancer diagnosis.

"He and I spoke Monday with both of us in tears at a point," Phillips wrote on Twitter. "He needs freedom by so many definitions and we are diligent working towards that."

Joe Exotic — whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — claims he was set up. His attorneys have been gathering statements from witnesses to file for a retrial.

"The government and federal investigators mishandled the entire investigation," they told the trial judge last week in a legal filing.

"The government inappropriately used confidential informants and undisclosed witnesses for years before trial. According to one or more of those witnesses, they were threatened with jail and public humiliation and even instructed as to how to manipulate the investigation by means which were less than appropriate."

More: Carole Baskin sues over 'Tiger King 2' asking Netflix to not use footage of her

Joe Exotic has brought up medical problems in past efforts to get released.

At his sentencing in January 2020, he asked the judge to consider house arrest. "As you know, I have two incurable diseases ... hemoglobin anemia and CVID," he said. "My time here is limited anyway."

The judge instead ordered him to serve 22 years in prison.

Then, in a letter to fans last year, he wrote he was not getting proper medical treatment and all of his medications in prison. He told fans he was losing weight and sores wouldn't heal.

"I'll be dead in 2-3 months," he also told fans in the June 1, 2020 letter. "Hear my scream for help."

At the time, Joe Exotic was seeking a pardon from then-President Donald Trump.

Judge refuses to block Netflix from using Carole Baskin footage in 'Tiger King 2'

In a related development, a federal judge in Florida has refused to block Netflix from using film footage of Baskin and her husband in its sequel to "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."

"Tiger King 2" begins streaming Nov. 17.

Baskin complained the first documentary series made her into the villain and that she never agreed that footage of her could be used in any sequel. U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on Monday denied her request for a temporary restraining order.

"While the Court understands the Baskins’ frustration, it does not appear that inclusion of ... ’

footage of the Baskins will cause any immediate harm that cannot be compensated with monetary damages," the judge wrote in the order.

Still pending is a request for a preliminary injunction against Netflix. A federal magistrate judge has scheduled a hearing on that request but called any expectation of a ruling before Nov. 17 unrealistic.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Tiger King Joe Exotic tells fans he has prostate cancer via Instagram