KANSAS CITY - The Missouri woman who claimed one of her chimpanzees died in her possession in Festus has pled guilty.
Tonya Haddix, the figure behind the Chimp Crazy program on HBO, has entered a plea of guilty on 3 felony counts: two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.
Haddix is scheduled to be sentenced July 16. Each perjury charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. The obstruction charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the same fine range.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith laid out the charges against her as they would have been presented to a grand jury situation, but she waived that, stating that she lied in federal court about the whereabouts of a movie chimp named Tonka.
Tonka was alive and well, actually, and eventually confiscated by law enforcement and PETA officials.