ST. LOUIS 鈥 A federal judge ruled Thursday that the former caretaker of a movie star chimpanzee should stay in jail at least until Aug. 7, when she is to be sentenced for lying to the court.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark revoked the bond issued previously for Tonia Haddix, who was featured in the HBO documentary series 鈥淐himp Crazy.鈥
Haddix and her lawyers did not contest a request by prosecutors that she remain jailed following her arrest last weekend.
The arrest came after federal authorities searched her home in Sunrise Beach near the Lake of the Ozarks and found another secret chimp, in violation of court orders.
Hal Goldsmith, a federal prosecutor, said that 鈥渏ust shows she is not amenable to abiding鈥欌 by court orders.
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Clark noted that he and another judge had admonished Haddix to comply with court orders and that 鈥淚 do have concerns鈥 about the recent turn of events. Clark said he would address those at the sentencing hearing.
Thursday鈥檚 ruling was the latest episode in a nearly decade-long legal fight about Haddix and her now-defunct Missouri Primate Foundation facility near Festus.
In 2017, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal rights nonprofit, sued her. PETA claimed she kept several chimps, including Tonka 鈥 who appeared in two 1997 movies 鈥 in inadequate conditions.
Haddix signed an agreement three years later to send four of the chimps to a sanctuary in Florida. The order allowed her to keep three others, including Tonka.
But PETA said she failed to comply with the conditions of that agreement and law enforcement officials removed the remaining chimps from Haddix鈥檚 facility in 2021, including Tonka.
However, when officials arrived to remove the chimps, Tonka wasn鈥檛 there. Haddix鈥檚 husband, Jerry Aswegan, claimed Tonka had died. But PETA later found Tonka in the basement of Haddix鈥檚 Sunrise Beach home.
Last year, in the HBO documentary, Haddix was shown lying to a judge about Tonka鈥檚 whereabouts. PETA filed to hold her in contempt of court, a judge referred the accusations to prosecutors and Haddix pleaded guilty in April to lying to the court about Tonka鈥檚 death.
Judge Clark allowed Haddix to be released on bond to live in Sunrise Beach under the supervision of federal pretrial release officers. On July 9, in a search of the home, FBI agents found the additional female chimp. Prosecutors then filed to revoke her bond.
Federal prosecutors had initially agreed to recommend a prison sentence of 10 to 16 months in exchange for the guilty plea. But prosecutors said this week they plan to ask for even more prison time at the sentencing hearing in August.
In addition to the criminal case, a judge in 2023 ordered Haddix to pay about $225,000 in attorney鈥檚 fees to PETA in its lawsuit, but she has yet to do so.
In an effort to collect the money, PETA has been asking for an accounting of assets belonging to Haddix, Aswegan and their companies.
On Wednesday, Judge Clark held Aswegan in contempt in the civil case for failing to provide financial documents, including tax returns, loans, assets and money transfers, as ordered by the court.
Aswegan was ordered to pay $50 a day until he provides the documents or shows why he can鈥檛.
Katie Kull of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this article.
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