Update: Tonia Haddix’s Husband Held in Contempt of Court

For Immediate Release:
July 23, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A Federal Court Judge in Missouri just held Jerry Aswegan, husband of Chimp Crazy villain Tonia Haddix, in contempt for failing to respond to PETA’s subpoena for financial records. Aswegan will be fined $50 per day until he complies, and he must reimburse PETA for the attorneys’ fees and costs related to enforcing the subpoena, which PETA served as part of its efforts to collect the $225,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs Haddix had been ordered to pay after she lied to the court about Tonka the chimpanzee’s whereabouts and disobeyed a court order to surrender him to PETA.

Please see the following statement from PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet:

“Tonia Haddix was the villain of Chimp Crazy and Tonka the chimpanzee’s story, but Jerry Aswegan is just as responsible for every day Tonka spent locked in a basement, unable to exercise, set eyes on another chimpanzee, or feel the sun on his skin. PETA looks to the courts to ensure that Aswegan and Haddix are on the hook for every cent that PETA spent to find Tonka and move him to the sanctuary where he’s thriving at last.”

Last week, a Missouri state court found four companies affiliated with Haddix and Aswegan in contempt of court for ignoring orders to hand over the records. Those companies are due back in state court on August 5, and Haddix’s sentencing in her federal perjury and obstruction-of-justice case is scheduled for August 7.