Joe Exotic Hopes for Pardon After Retaining Attorney Connected to Trump

"Tiger King" star Joe Exotic has retained a lawyer with ties to President Donald Trump ... and now he is hopeful for a pardon, TMZ has learned.

As you know ... Joe is currently locked up in federal prison in Texas, serving a 21-year prison sentence for a murder-for-hire plot to kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin, and for wildlife violations.

His new attorney, Peter Ticktin, went to military school with POTUS back in the day, and Joe and Peter seem confident they'll be able to work something out.

We're told although Ticktin hasn't been in touch with Trump regarding a potential pardon, he feels like he has an advantage because he's gained the trust of the "players" involved ... one of those players obviously being Trump.

"The deck was stacked against my client who was presumed guilty from the start," Ticktin told us. "This is another innocent man who should be set free."

We're told Ticktin will be filing for a formal pardon and petition for cert with the Supreme Court for Joe's appeal by Christmas.

At the New York Military Academy decades ago, Ticktin served as Trump's platoon sergeant. Trump was reportedly a captain, which would have placed Ticktin as his subordinate.