Prosecutors told the court that the chimp was found during the execution of a search warrant on July 9.<\/p>\n
ST. LOUIS \u2014 The woman at the center of the HBO documentary “Chimp Crazy”<\/a> will remain in custody until at least her next hearing on Thursday, after investigators said they discovered another chimp in her basement earlier this month.<\/p>\n Tonia Haddix pleaded guilty in March<\/a> to two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for lying when she told a federal judge multiple times that Tonka the chimpanzee had died. She was out on bond awaiting sentencing, but over the weekend, she was taken into custody after a judge ordered the arrest of her and her husband<\/a> for contempt of court after they repeatedly ignored court orders in a lawsuit filed by PETA.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith told the court that the chimp was found during the execution of a search warrant on July 9. Haddix was ordered to remain in custody until at least Thursday’s hearing, which is where a judge will determine if she violated her bond.<\/p>\n Sentencing in the perjury case was scheduled for July 16 but was delayed until Aug. 7.<\/p>\n Each perjury charge is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. She could face up to 10 years in prison and the same fine range for the obstruction of justice charge.<\/p>\n The perjury charges stem from statements she made in court regarding Tonka, a former animal actor featured in several Hollywood films in the ’90s, including “George of the Jungle,” “Buddy” and “Babe: Pig In the City”.<\/p>\n During a legal battle over custody of Tonka, Haddix provided a written declaration on Aug. 16, 2021, under penalty of perjury, that Tonka had died.<\/p>\n \u201cOn May 30, 2021, Tonka died,” Haddix said in the declaration. “On that same date, (my husband) cremated Tonka\u2019s body. After the cremation, he gave me Tonka\u2019s cremated remains. Since then, I have retained\u2014and continue to retain\u2014Tonka\u2019s remains.\u201d<\/p>\n She repeated a similar claim in writing on Dec. 27, 2021, and again in sworn testimony on Jan. 5, 2022, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.<\/p>\n “Went in and I opened the cage door and (Tonka) was dead. He was dead,\u201d she said in sworn testimony. \u201c\u2026we took him around and let the chimps say goodbye.”<\/p>\n A district court judge denied PETA’s motion for civil contempt based on Haddix’s testimony, but less than five months later, the court received evidence that Tonka was still alive.<\/p>\n PETA launched a nationwide search and enlisted the help of Alan Cumming, Tonka’s “Buddy” co-star. The search ended on June 8, 2022, when Tonka was found in a small cage in the basement of a home in Sunrise Beach in the Lake of the Ozarks.\u00a0<\/p>\n