A Missouri woman who starred in the HBO documentary series “Chimp Crazy” has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after she lied that a movie star primate that she was accused of mistreating had died.
Tonia Haddix, 56, was also ordered Thursday to serve three years of supervised release after her 46-month prison sentence ends.
Haddix, who ran a primate facility the St. Louis suburb of Festus, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of perjury and one of obstructing justice.
It all started nearly a decade ago, when the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sued, saying she was keeping several chimps in “confined in cramped, virtually barren enclosures” at the now-defunct Missouri Primate Foundation facility.
Among the chimps was Tonka, who appeared in the 1997 movies “Buddy” and “George of the Jungle.” Actor Alan Cumming, the British-born actor who starred in the movie “Buddy” alongside Tonka, also begged for the primate to be moved.
Haddix signed a consent decree in 2020 agreeing to send four of the chimps to a Florida sanctuary. The order allowed her to keep three others, including Tonka, at a facility she was to build.
But after a judge found that was not complying with the agreement, authorities arrived in 2021 and removed the remaining chimps, except for Tonka. Haddix claimed Tonka had died and that she had cremated the remains, according to court records.
“I wanted to keep trying to save Tonka if l could. But then he just died on his own, so there was no saving him,” she said, according to court records.
But Tonka was alive. In 2022, PETA removed him from a cage in the basement of her home in Sunrise Beach, Missouri, near the Lake of the Ozarks.
Haddix told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2022 that she lied to protect Tonka from “the evil clutches of PETA.” She also admitted what happened in the third episode of “Chimp Crazy,” which premiered last year, saying, “Tonka was literally on the run with me.”
Just last month, investigators found another chimp locked up in the basement of her home in Sunrise Beach in violation of court orders, documents in the case said. She was arrested, and her bond revoked.
“Defendant has shown no remorse for her criminal conduct, and has continued to challenge and defy this Court’s authority, and she should face a significant punishment as a result,” prosecutors wrote.
Her lawyer, Justin Gelfand, asked for mercy in court filings, saying she suffered abuse as a child and then endured several rocky marriages as an adult.
“This life taught her a clear lesson: humans are unpredictable and are not frequently safe or trustworthy," Gelfand wrote. "In the face of these harsh realities threaded throughout her life, Haddix came to form secure attachments with animals.”
PETA praised the sentence in a news release, saying that Haddix now “can't hurt another chimpanzee.”
Tonia Haddix leaves the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse with her attorney Bill Margulis after entering guilty pleas to two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice on March 31, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Tonia Haddix leaves the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse after entering guilty pleas to two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice on March 31, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. highlighted “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the Arctic island.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday as foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington. Several European partners — including France, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands — started sending symbolic numbers of troops already on Wednesday or promised to do so in the following days.
The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.
On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.
Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the continuation of “dialogue and diplomacy.”
“Greenland is not for sale,” he said Thursday. “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed from the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”
In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.
Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.
Maya Martinsen, 21, said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
On Wednesday, Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.
The Russian embassy in Brussels on Thursday lambasted what it called the West's “bellicose plans” in response to “phantom threats that they generate themselves”. It said the planned military actions were part of an “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda” by NATO.
“Russia has consistently maintained that the Arctic should remain a territory of peace, dialogue and equal cooperation," the embassy said.
Rasmussen announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”
Speaking on Thursday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact despite the Washington meeting, but she welcomed the creation of the working group.
The most important thing for Greenlanders is that they were directly represented at the meeting in the White House and that “the diplomatic dialogue has begun now,” Juno Berthelsen, a lawmaker for the pro-independence Naleraq opposition party, told AP.
A relationship with the U.S. is beneficial for Greenlanders and Americans and is “vital to the security and stability of the Arctic and the Western Alliance,” Berthelsen said. He suggested the U.S. could be involved in the creation of a coastguard for Greenland, providing funding and creating jobs for local people who can help to patrol the Arctic.
Line McGee, 38, from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”
Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”
Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
People walk on a street in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
From center to right, Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, rear, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, right, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)
Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
