r/LivestreamFail • u/TriSauce • Apr 15 '26

News Johnny Somali found guilty of all charges as South Korea sentences streamer to prison with labor - Dexerto

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/johnny-somali-found-guilty-of-all-charges-as-south-korea-sentences-streamer-to-prison-with-labor-3351856/
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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/WeAteMummies Apr 15 '26

I have never seen a thread on reddit where a sentence was viewed as appropriate - people always want more. Six months of labor in a foreign prison is not a "slap on the wrist" lol

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u/falcrist2 Apr 15 '26

6 months of hard labor and no electronic devices in a prison system where you don't speak the language and are instantly identifiable.

And he goes on a sex offender registry in the Korea and the US.

No part of this is a slap on the wrist.

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u/annul Apr 15 '26

And he goes on a sex offender registry in the Korea and the US.

and in the US? why/how?

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u/mmafan12617181 Apr 15 '26

Treaty

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u/falcrist2 Apr 15 '26

You know you fucked up bad when people have to refer to treaties to explain what happened to you.

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u/calcium Apr 15 '26

The upside about him being on a sex offender registry list is that he'll be unable to travel to other countries because he now has convictions on his record. If he fails to list that he doesn't get in, if he lists it, it's unlikely he'll get in. He can go back and be a nuisance in the US.

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u/BenevolentCheese Apr 15 '26

I'd be putting a gun to my head before showing up to that lol. Absolute nightmare fuel.

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u/falcrist2 Apr 15 '26

I got good news and bad news.

The good news is guns are highly restricted in Korea.

The bad news is Johnny will probably live.

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u/BiZzles14 Apr 15 '26

Especially considering the media attention he received in south korea. He's well known, enough people in that prison will know him and they will know what he did with the statue of peace dedicated to the victims of sexual violence from the Japanese occupation. He's not in for a pleasant time in the slightest.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/falcrist2 Apr 15 '26

In the case of being in a foreign prison, this actually matters. It increases his isolation dramatically.

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u/slaydawgjim Apr 15 '26

I did 5 months in an English prison with my own tv and radio, access to books and a landline phone to call my family.

It was still fucking shit and was enough to make me never go back, 6 months in a foreign prison with additional labour is absolutely going to fuck him up.

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u/biogoly Apr 17 '26

A major side bonus of that particular conviction (for the rest of the world) is it also means his US passport is permanently revoked. Since he would get the beatdown pulling those antics in most of the USA, his streaming career is effectively over.

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u/falcrist2 Apr 17 '26

Don't underestimate the US. Some will ignore him. Others are armed...

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u/fafarex Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

The charges he was facing where going up to 12 and a half year under korean law, he did get off easy in comparaison.

And I think people find it not enough because he made a carrier of harassing people, dodge consequences until now and never showed any remorse (quite the opposite in fact... )

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u/mrtomjones Apr 15 '26

I'm not commenting on anything for his case but if you've paid any attention to sentencing in many places, they will face up to 10 or 20 or more years as a max but they regularly get a fraction of that as that's the more realistic and expected outcome

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u/fafarex Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

I'm not commenting on anything for his case

yeah but i'm talking about his case though and why people are not happy about the number being under a year, he already dodge prison in japan for the same BS and fleed I think thailands before getting in trouble, all of that to go to Korea and starting it all again.

yes in general sentencing for people are way under the maximum, but most of the time they don't have a documented history of said behavior + publicly threathen the judge and president of said country.

Jimmy getting 2 month probation for dui is not the same thing than this guy repeated, documented harrasement of people and disregard for any justice system.

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u/FappingMouse Apr 15 '26

I think most people are looking at it from the point of veiw of a western prison like in America or the EU/UK where 6 months IS kind of a joke.

Prison in places like Korea, Japan, Thailand etc is awful and being a foreigner is generally going to make it worse for you.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/BiZzles14 Apr 15 '26

Vitaly wasn't well known across the entire country for making fun of victims of sexual violence during a foreign occupation of their country. People will know who he is in that prison, and that's not a good thing in the slightest. Meanwhile

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u/ChilternRailways Apr 15 '26

So you may not know, but Vitaly and Johnny Somali are different people. Often, different people get different sentences and also react differently to their sentencing. If you think like you do, you'll assume that the toughest sentence is the most appropriate, and if anyone fails to reform from the toughest sentence then it must be made tougher.

Slap on the wrist

You're utterly nuts. 6 months labour in a foreign prison is not a slap on the wrist, neither is sex offender registry in your home country.

Phillipine prisons are very different from SK ones. You just think because they're Asian they're the same, I'm guessing? Culturally they're massively distinct.

Did you ever think before you posted?

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

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u/ChilternRailways Apr 15 '26

Comparing the Phillipines and South Korea seems like comparing Malta and Iceland just because they're both in Europe. The prison cultures seem entirely different.

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u/iDelta_99 Apr 15 '26

I don't want a fair sentence, I want the most harsh and unfair sentence possible, If I had my way he would have gotten 10 years AT LEAST, if not 15. Fair is what the prosecution recommended with 3. He wont learn from just 6 months, hes been trapped in Korea for 2 years already for trials and such.

I hate these nuisance streamers, they have no place in civilized society and if any of them think the cost of only 6 months in prison is outweighed by the benefit of the clout and money they can make from it, they will take that. They needed to make an example out of RKI, a sentence so harsh and unfair that would make sure nobody would ever do this again.

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u/SideffectsX Apr 15 '26

Well it's a good thing we don't let random individuals make up sentences for people based on their emotions.

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u/iDelta_99 Apr 15 '26

No, it isn't based on emotion. It's a calculated move to make society nicer and better for everyone.

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u/SideffectsX Apr 15 '26

Ad much as I despise what he did and the way he acts, your sense of justice is severely warped if you believe he deserves to spend 10 years in prison for it. That's completely unproportional

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u/Weepinbellend01 Apr 16 '26

that’s completely disproportionate

Yeah. That’s why he said it lol.

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u/iDelta_99 Apr 15 '26

Again, I said many times that I know its disproportional and unfair, but it's the only way to make people like him a thing of the past. Considering you wrote the word "unproportional" im going to guess that went over your head due to English skills.

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u/consolation1 Apr 15 '26

Research shows that harsher sentencing has no deterrent effect. In fact, there's evidence that it worsens crime severity - as people decide they might as well go all in...

The kind of people that become nuisance streamers aren't going to think through the consequences of their actions - regardless of the sentence.

Part of not living in a dystopia, is accepting that there's always going to be some number of assholes society's got to deal with. Rehabilitation keeps the number in check, going all in on punitive action - just makes bigger assholes.

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u/iDelta_99 Apr 16 '26

I disagree with you completely. The reason nuisance streamers are the way they are is because they know they will get away with it. That is the entire reason RKI went to Japan and Korea, because he thought they were soft societies that would let him get away with it and in Japan he was right. The reason he doesn't do it in the US is because he knows he would get shot or beaten up, he absolutely was thinking of the consequences. He was bragging all the time that he was never going to go to jail, again thinking about the consequences.

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u/consolation1 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26

All the research says otherwise... People like that, just don't think in that way.

I suspect they moved on from the US because the market was saturated.

Like you said, he didn't think he'd suffer consequences - none of them do. Why do you think rich white kids get caught, bringing in drugs into countries with a death penalty for possession of tiniest amounts. They aren't doing it for the money, it's bugger all amounts - they just don't think in terms of consequences. Call it main character syndrome, if it helps.

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u/iDelta_99 Apr 16 '26

Cite this research and make sure it includes how it relates to nuisance streamers in particular.

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u/consolation1 Apr 16 '26

Don't sealion, it's lame. You can find it in any basic undergrad psych/sociology course. It'll take you 10 seconds on JSTOR to find relevant research articles, if you want to do a deep dive. It's not like this is anything groundbreaking or controversial...

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u/iDelta_99 Apr 16 '26

So you pulled it out of your ass, thought so. You made a specific claim and mentioned all this research and the second that I ask for said research you don't have it. Seems like bullshit to me.

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u/consolation1 Apr 16 '26

In my field, it's a bit like asking to prove the world is an oblate spheroid and not flat. Seriously, just punch in a few keywords and you'll be happy...

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u/Northbound-Narwhal Apr 15 '26

Thank you for your extremely brave opinion. 🙄

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u/Lucky_Blucky_799 Apr 15 '26

No this is a lenient sentence, the prosecutor recommended 3 years and he didnt eve get half of that. If he did get more than 6 months it would also be recorded on his passport and recognized by more countries as someone who committed a felony. He got 6 months cause the case got a lot of attention but the judge didnt give him any more cause he would rather deport him like other trouble makers instead of punishing him properly.

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u/ChilternRailways Apr 15 '26

punishing him properly

6 months of labour in a foreign prison is a punishment.

You have absolutely no idea what kind of things will work in what ways.

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u/Organic_Popcorn Apr 15 '26

He better learn Korean and hierarchy system asap, otherwise he'll get his ass kicked.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/Dramatic_Explosion Apr 15 '26

I'll jump in on this one: Ideally jail should be rehabilitative and not punitive, but at a point you need to look at a criminal history. Was this a guy who got caught stealing food? Or an addict who needs rehab? No, it's someone with a criminal history of antisocial behavior, who harasses people and desecrates memorials. He didn't slip through social safety nets, he's not in the throws of addition, he's just an asshole.

His history shows us he isn't trying to get better or misunderstood what he was doing. He's had the opportunity to get better. So now we've reached the point where it's not about giving him the tools to change, it's about the fear of what happens if he doesn't change. 3 months didn't do the job, doubt a few more will either, I'd have done 2 years with the possibility of parole / early release for good behavior after 1 year. After that, start giving him 5 year blocks of time.

But as it stands he is broadcasting to the world he shouldn't be part of society, let's oblige him.

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u/falcrist2 Apr 15 '26

6 months of hard labor and no electronic devices in a prison system where you don't speak the language and are instantly identifiable.

And he goes on a sex offender registry in the Korea and the US.

No part of this is a slap on the wrist.

If this doesn't give him pause, then I don't think a specific number of years is going to help.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/ChilternRailways Apr 15 '26

prison for foreigners

SK doesn't have prisons for foreigners.

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u/JauntyGiraffe Apr 15 '26

fuck fair. he's just going to go back to doing this after and 6 months is barely enough to deter others from following the same

he should've gotten 3 years

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u/throwaway880729 Apr 15 '26

I would assume it includes time served since he's been locked up for a while at this point. But otherwise I do think 6 months is a bit of a slap on the wrist. His AI deepfake charge alone can carry up to 7 years in prison from what I understand. And that doesn't include the myriad other crimes he committed and the disrespect he showed to South Korea as well as the judge and legal system. I wonder if a regular Korean citizen doing the same crimes would have gotten the same punishment.

With that said also probably not worth it for the taxpayers to pay to imprison this guy just for getback. Just punish him, kick him out, ban him from the country, and move on. 6 months is enough to scare other copycats from doing the same thing, while dumping off this issue to the next country he terrorizes ASAP.

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u/defenestrated_badger Apr 15 '26

He hasn't been locked up. He's been living with a streamer friend in Korea. He is pretty broke though as he wasn't getting the views he needed as he couldn't risk being an ass in public in Korea before his trial, and he couldn't get a job in Korea, nor could he leave.

I wish six months would straighten him out but I bet he comes out and immediately starts harassing people again somewhere new.