Tonia Haddix, the former Festus-area chimpanzee caretaker who gained famed from the HBO documentary “Chimp Crazy,” will spend nearly four years in prison.
Haddix, 56, on Thursday, Aug. 7, was sentenced to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Federal Judge Stephen Clark also ordered Haddix to be placed on three years’ supervised release after serving her sentence, according to court documents.
Haddix was the last owner of seven chimps – Tonka, Crystal, Mikayla, Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry – who lived at the Festus-area facility formerly known as Chimparty, which provided chimps for parties, television ads and movies. The chimps previously belonged to Connie Casey, who transferred ownership of the animals to Haddix in an attempt to end a lawsuit PETA filed against her in 2016.
Haddix admitted to lying about the death of Tonka, a chimp best known for his role in the 1997 film “Buddy” with Alan Cumming, after she had been ordered to surrender the chimpanzees following a lengthy court battle with PETA over how the animals were being treated at the former Missouri Primate Foundation south of Festus.
“Now that Tonia Haddix is locked up, she’s getting a taste of the suffering she inflicted on animals by imprisoning them in cages and denying them any semblance of a natural life,” said Brittany Peet, a lawyer for PETA.
The nearly four-year prison sentence Clark imposed was nearly double the advisory guideline based on an offense level and criminal history had recommended 24-30 months in prison.
Haddix’s attorney, Justin K. Gelfand, had requested in court papers that his client be sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
U.S. assistant attorney Hal Goldsmith wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Haddix deserved “significant punishment” after federal agents allegedly found she was secretly harboring a female chimp in violation of her bond after pleading guilty to lying in federal court and an agreement in a civil lawsuit with PETA.
Federal prosecutors had initially agreed to recommend a prison sentence of 10 to 16 months in exchange for the guilty plea, court records said.
In court papers, Gelfand asked for leniency based on Haddix not having any prior criminal history and a difficult upbringing
In his sentencing memorandum, Gelfand outlined a series of hardships Haddix faced in her life in the memorandum. He wrote how Haddix’s parents divorced when she was 2, and she was raised by her undiagnosed bipolar mother who emotionally and physically abused her.
Gelfand also wrote about Haddix’s six marriages with one of her husbands dying of cancer and claiming her fifth husband, Gary Haddix, was a physically abusive drug addict who she had to seek an order of protection against.
Haddix’s sixth and current husband, Jerry Aswegan, on July 23 was found by a federal judge to be in contempt of court for failing to turn over financial records to PETA, which had been awarded $224,404.24 in attorney fees and court costs after it was discovered Haddix lied about Tonka’s whereabouts and disobeyed a court order to surrender him to PETA, court records show..
Aswegan will be fined $50 per day until he complies, and he must reimburse PETA for the attorneys’ fees and costs related to enforcing the subpoena, according to court documents.
Gelfand also wrote while the crimes Haddix pleaded guilty to are serious, “it is important to note that they are not violent, related to drugs or driven by financial greed.”
However, Clark issued a harsh punishment to Haddix, who over the past years has admitted to lying to judges, refused to pay court-imposed penalties and profited from her violations of court orders. After “Chimp Crazy,” was released last year, Haddix cashed in on the notoriety, launching an Etsy shop to sell branded apparel, starting a podcast and delivering personalized video messages through the social media platform Cameo.
The legal battle between Haddix and PETA appeared to have concluded July 2021 when a federal judge ordered Haddix to give up ownership of the seven chimps and allow PETA to transfer them to the Center of Great Apes in Wauchula, Fla. The order came after the judge ruled Haddix had not followed a consent decree she had reached with PETA, which would have allowed her to retain ownership and care for Crystal, Mikayla and Tonka.
Crystal, Mikayla, Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry were transferred from the Festus-area facility to the Florida sanctuary on July 28, 2021. Tonka also was supposed to be transferred that day, but Haddix said Tonka died May 24, 2021, after suffering a stroke or heart attack.
Haddix had testified that Aswegan cremated Tonka’s body.
However, in June 2022, Tonka was discovered alive and living with Haddix at her home in Sunrise Beach near Lake of the Ozarks. The chimp was then transported to the Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Florida.
The discovery of Tonka came about because of Haddix’s role in “Chimp Crazy.” The documentary showed a video hearing in which Haddix appeared from her home and told the court Tonka had died of congestive heart failure.
After that hearing, she told the film crew she had lied. “I opted to go against the court order,” she said in the third episode of the documentary.
In April, a visit by U.S. pretrial services officers to Haddix’s Sunrise Beach home, where she also operated a roadside zoo, led to the discovery of the second hidden chimp.
When agents went to the home, Aswegan allegedly said Haddix was in the basement feeding monkeys. When the agents were allowed into the home’s basement, they found an empty caged enclosure, court records said.
However, the agents also allegedly saw fresh dung, blankets, an empty Gatorade bottle and half-eaten sucker in the fly-filled cage, according to the documents.
Based on those findings, special agents executed the warrant on July 9, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture, court records show.
The agents allegedly found and removed the female chimpanzee from the basement cage that day, according to court documents.
Before Haddix’s arrest on July 19, St. Louis County Judge Brian May issued an order on July 14 for Haddix and Aswegan to be arrested. The judge issued the order after holding the two in contempt for allegedly failing for a year and a half to turn over financial documents required in the civil case ruling, according to court documents.
PETA asked a St. Louis County judge last year to seize property and assets from her companies. Haddix never responded, so a judge ruled in PETA’s favor, court records show.
Haddix and Aswegan, who is also involved with her companies, allegedly didn’t turn over required financial documents in the case despite repeated orders from the court, according to court documents.
May ordered Haddix and Aswegan to appear at a hearing on July 14 to provide a reason for not providing the documentation. After neither of them appeared, he issued the order for their arrest, court records said.
May ruled Haddix and Aswegan are in contempt of court and must pay $100 and be jailed each day until they comply with the court’s orders. The judge also approved an order of body attachment, instructing law enforcement to detain the couple, according to court documents.
The two are also liable for all of PETA’s attorney fees and costs in pursuing the case, court records said.
Haddix and Aswegan are scheduled to appear for a show cause hearing on Aug. 12 in St. Louis County Court, court documents show.