One of the most infamous nuisance streamers right now (and in the past couple of years) is John Somali. One would think he’d stop fooling around in random countries after getting a severe punishment in South Korea, but it appears Johnny Somali’s troubles just got worse. Now, the streamer has a new criminal charge added to the pile, and if proven guilty in all pending charges, Johnny Somali could face more than 30 years in a South Korean prison.
Johnny Somali, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael– raised in Arizona, US, has already pleaded guilty to one count of Obstruction of Business. Since Somali is already guilty of one charge of Obstruction of Business, he’s already confirmed for five years of prison time. Somali has two charges for that crime, one of which he hasn’t pleaded guilty to, so potentially five more years, for a total of 10.
Soon after, he also received a new criminal charge concerning deepfake videos, where each deepfake charge could add 10.5 years to his sentence. This has put Somali’s potential sentence at 20 years, since deepfake videos are considered a sex crime in South Korea.
However, just recently, Johnny Somali received another deepfake video charge, adding 10.5 more years to his potential sentence, putting the potential total to around 31 years of prison time, according to Legal Mindset.
It appears there could be more charges coming up for Johnny Somali depending on the people or businesses he aggrieved in South Korea. For starters, one of the deepfake videos he created (and got himself in trouble) was of his face kissing a popular Korean influencer and claiming that she’s his “girlfriend.”
More Trouble for Johnny Somali
Other possible charges that Johnny Somali could receive due to his escapades in South Korea would be threatening to spread HIV, broadcasting North Korean propaganda, and even violating anti-terrorism laws (thanks to Dexerto for the information). So by the end of all of his trials, Somali could be in for more than 31 years.
Some US citizens, however, have chimed in on the matter, and a curious Redditor asked on a legal advice subreddit whether the US embassy in South Korea could bail out Johnny Somali or not. He is a US citizen, after all.
Unfortunately for Johnny Somali, the US government will only extend this privilege to politically motivated arrests or perhaps even unjust imprisonments. Somali notably defaced a statue of a Comfort Woman in South Korea and stole from a convenience store, and damaged property, among other crimes mentioned above.
Even the US government website states that it cannot get US citizens out of jail in other countries. So, Somali is going to have to face the consequences of his actions without the hope of a bailout from the US.
“Absolutely not. There’s this idea from tv that if you commit a crime as a tourist, you just need to get the embassy involved and you’re off the hook. That’s not what they do at all. Can you imagine the uproar if a British streamer damaged the 9/11 memorial for fame and didn’t face punishment because the British embassy “saved” him?,” explains Redditor Personal-Listen-4941
“No, he committed crimes and is now paying for his actions. This was not a case of unjust imprisonment. He deserves every bit due to his being a total jerk. When I was stationed overseas, we were told “OBEY the local laws. The US will not bail you out and let you serve your penalty. Then the Military will get you afterwards,” according to Redditor Status_Control_9500
