Chris Brown facing criminal charges for illegally buying daughter an exotic monkey for Christmas

Chris Brown is off to court again, and this time around, he's gotten in trouble because of his little daughter. The 29-year-old singer is facing two counts of possession of a restricted primate without a permit, according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney.  

The criminal charge on the singer is related to his purchase of a capuchin monkey for his daughter Royalty, that he gifted to her for Christmas last year. The star is to be arraigned on February 6, and could face up to six months behind bars for the issue.

Royalty's pet was brought to the attention of authorities after the animal made a surprising appearance on social media. Brown had posted a video of his daughter playing with the animal in December 2017, but the singer received a holiday surprise himself when he realized he needs a permit to house the exotic monkey.

The arraignment comes a year after agents from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife seized the pet from the singer's LA home. At the time, captain Patrick Foy said that investigators determined the singer did not have a permit for the capuchin monkey, who was nicknamed Fiji by the family. 

When the police came to his house, Brown agreed to cooperate with them to full capacity, and soon after, agents served a search warrant at his home. On the day of the search, Brown was out but had previously instructed his employees to hand over the monkey in a cage to the authorities.

This is not the first time that the singer has found himself in a soup with legal authorities. Brown has had multiple run-ins with the law ever since he pleaded guilty to felony assault in 2009 of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, ahead of the Grammys.

Then again, in 2013, Brown was charged with misdemeanor assault when the singer was accused of striking a man outside a Washington DC hotel. After he completed court-ordered anger-management classes, Brown was accused of throwing a brick at his mother's car following a counseling session.

The troubled star was once again accused of hitting Bennie Vines Jr., who was hired by a club in Tampa to take pictures during an event hosted by Brown in April 2017. The victim told the police officers at the time that Brown punched him while he was snapping photos.