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

FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — Myrtle Beach Safari owner Bhagavan “Doc” Antle will be able to travel to Georgia to visit an injured “loved one,” according to court documents filed in his money laundering and wildlife-trafficking-case.

A U.S. magistrate in Florence signed an order Wednesday that modified his bond to remove the conditions for home detention and location monitoring and allows 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.

According to the documents, the person Antle wants to visit suffered a serious injury and is undergoing rehabilitation in Atlanta. Prosecutors previously supported a motion to modify the bond that was filed in April.

Antle and four others were indicted in U.S. District Court in Florence in June 2022. He pleaded not guilty in July and was eventually released from jail on a $250,000 bond.

More recently, the “Tiger King” star was convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia after being accused of illegally buying endangered lion cubs in Frederick County, Virginia, for display and profit in South Carolina.

A jury acquitted Antle of five counts of animal cruelty and the judge dismissed four additional animal cruelty charges against him and all of the charges against his two adult daughters.