In September 2018, Exotic was indicted by a federal grand jury, and arrested by the FBI, for attempting to hire a hitman to murder Carole Baskin."Joe Exotic" Convicted of Murder-for-Hire and Violating Both the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act, United States Department of Justice (April 2, 2019). On April 2, 2019, following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, Exotic was convicted of 19 counts: two counts of murder-for-hire, eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine of the Endangered Species Act. On January 22, 2020, he was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
