Related Articles
Tonia Haddix, the star of HBO’s Chimp Crazy, was sentenced to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges for faking the death of her beloved chimpanzee Tonka.
The eccentric exotic animal broker had been hoping for a significantly lighter sentence, just one year instead of the four-and-half-year sentence Missouri District Judge Stephen R. Clark handed down Thursday.
But there was no denying that Haddix had blatantly lied to the court about Tonka’s death after she was filmed bursting into tears while telling a judge about how the ape died of heart failure in 2021, only to run down to her basement and celebrate with the chimp a few minutes later. That very scene, among others in the four-part docuseries, was submitted to the court as grounds to charge Haddix with perjury.
And the 55-year-old faces more legal trouble. She’s on the hook for more than $224,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs owed to PETA. It’s unclear if she’ll face any fines or charges for the recent discovery that she was stowing another chimpanzee in her basement.(Rolling Stone has reached out to Haddix’s attorney for comment.)
Although some of Haddix’s friends submitted letters to the court on her behalf asking for a lighter sentence, PETA advocated for harsh consequences. In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, PETA’s General Counsel Brittany Peet celebrated the judge’s decision, saying Haddix was finally getting “a taste of the suffering she inflicted” on the chimpanzees she looked over.
“PETA is relieved to see justice done and urges everyone to support the Captive Primate Safety Act, which will keep vulnerable monkeys and apes out of the pet trade and the hands of ruthless dealers like Haddix,” Peet added.
The animal rights group has been locked in a contentious fight with Haddix since 2018 when Haddix took over an infamous chimpanzee facility in Festus, Missouri. When she claimed Tonka suddenly died in June 2021 — conveniently before he was set to be transferred to a Florida sanctuary —PETA was hellbent on proving she was lying. Ultimately, Tonka was discovered alive and locked in Haddix’s basement in June 2022.
Although Haddix had somehow kept the lie going for a year, it ended up being the documentary crew that had been filming with her that turned her in to PETA.
In previous conversations with Rolling Stone, Haddix said she would do almost everything all over again —apart from lying to the judge —because she considered Tonka like one of her children. “Tonka is the love of my life,” she said. “He really, truly is. I love him like a son.”
