Supported by
Prosecutors said that Tonia Haddix perjured herself to avoid giving up custody of Tonka, who had appeared in the movies ‘George of the Jungle’ and ‘Buddy.’
By Neil Vigdor
A star of the HBO series “Chimp Crazy” has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for lying to the authorities by saying that one of her primates, Tonka, a celebrity with Hollywood movie credits, had died to avoid giving him up, according to court documents.
Tonka’s former owner, Tonia Haddix, 56, was sentenced to 46 months on Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, a coda in a protracted legal battle with the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over several chimpanzees that were kept at the Missouri primate center that she ran.
