Breaking Update: Tonia Haddix to Face Federal Criminal Charges After PETA Motion
For Immediate Release:
November 23, 2024
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
St. Louis –
Judge Catherine Perry of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri has just ordered the United States Attorney’s Office to make a charging decision regarding PETA’s allegations of criminal contempt and perjury against Chimp Crazy villain Tonia Haddix by December 16. Furthermore, she has indicated that if the Attorney’s Office declines to prosecute, then her Court will appoint a private attorney to prosecute the criminal charges—meaning that Haddix is guaranteed to face federal criminal charges.
The judge relied heavily on PETA’s motion filed in the court last month, which used Haddix’s statements and actions documented in the hit docuseries as evidence that her attempt to fake the death of a famous chimpanzee named Tonka by lying to a judge and hiding the ape in a cage in her basement was in violation of court orders. In Judge Perry’s order, handed down today, she writes: “[D]efendant Tonia Haddix has violated numerous orders of this Court and seeks to make a mockery of the rule of law by admitting and boasting on television, on the internet, and on other means of public communications, about her violations of the Court’s orders; she continues to publicize her acts of contempt; and she seeks to profit from her acts of contempt.”
Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation General Counsel Brittany Peet, who also appeared in Chimp Crazy:
The wheels of justice are turning for entitled Tonia Haddix, who has shown time and time again that she believes the justice system will simply indulge her as she defies court orders in her warped quest to exploit chimpanzees. This is a woman who either can’t or won’t abide by the law, and PETA thanks the court for making moves to hold her accountable with these much-deserved federal charges.
PETA’s motion pointed out that Chimp Crazy showed that Haddix leaked confidential details regarding the transfers of chimpanzees from the now-defunct Missouri Primate Foundation breeding compound, recorded the transfers and court hearings, and apparently entered a chimpanzee enclosure—all in violation of various court orders.
