After months in captivity, Brittney Griner was released in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout. While many celebrated Griner’s return home, many have also slammed the prisoner swap deal. Now, Netflix star Joe Exotic has come out slamming the deal as well. He was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for charges including attempted murder in 2019. However, Exotic’s sentence was then reduced by one year to 21 years in January 2022.

In an audio obtained by TMZ, the “Tiger King” has given his thoughts about the release of Griner from behind the bars.

Joe Exotic on the Brittney Griner prisoner swap deal

As per reports, Joe Exotic said, “The whole Brittney Griner and?Trevor Reed prisoner swap is a slap in every American’s face that is wrongfully detained in the American Federal Prison System, including myself.”

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He added, “a dangerous man was released for Brittney Griner to be free. It’s time Joe Exotic gets to go home for Christmas to be home with [boyfriend]?Seth?and his son for the first time in 5 Christmases.”

The Netflix star claimed he is innocent and is wrongfully detained. So when a notorious arms dealer like Viktor Bout was released, he felt others who are wrongfully detained in federal prisons should also be released. Bout was reportedly sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on charges of providing weapons to terrorists and conspiring to kill Americans. However, the reason behind the release of Bout was completely different.

The arms dealer was released not because he was wrongfully detained. But only because Russia demanded his release in exchange for Brittney Griner who was detained for carrying small amounts of cannabis oil. Even though the charges of Bout and Griner cannot be compared, the U.S. released him to bring Griner back home.

The possible threats of Viktor Bout

Tom Pasquarello is a former DEA official who helped put Viktor Bout behind bars. It was one of his biggest achievements. Recently, he gave his opinion about the prisoner swap deal. He reportedly expressed the release of Bout could be a huge threat to Americans and the country. He talked in detail about how the arms dealer used to operate in a safe spot and feared he could very well begin doing that after his release.

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Pasquarello said that it feels like a “free deal” to release someone as dangerous as Bout for a basketball player. Also, he stated that more Americans should have been included in the deal. He added the deal sends a bad message to the world that the U.S. will make concessions if an American is held overseas.