Sitting pretty: Moronic Canadian influencer, 20, who threw chair from 45th floor balcony onto busy road for ‘likes’ dodges jail – and grows her followers from 4,000 to 60K
- Marcella Zoia, 20, sparked outrage in February last year after she was filmed throwing a chair from the balcony of a Toronto high-rise
- Footage showed the chair narrowly avoided cars as it landed on the busy Gardiner Expressway below
- Zoia later handed herself in to police, and prosecutors sought to have the social media star spend six months in jail for her dangerous stunt
- She instead was instead sentenced to two years probation and 150 hours of community service on Tuesday
- Zoia took to Instagram following her sentencing, where she was seen ignoring social distancing guidelines as she twerked and partied with friends
A Canadian influencer has avoided jail time for throwing a chair from a 45th floor balcony onto a busy highway in a desperate bid for ‘likes’.
Marcella Zoia, 20, was instead sentenced to two years probation and 150 hours of community service by a Toronto judge on Tuesday.
The social media star was additionally slapped with a USD $1,485 fine over her dangerous stunt, which went viral after it was recorded in February of last year.
Prosecutors were seeking to have Zoia locked up for six months, but she avoided jail time after pleading guilty to a charge of mischief endangering life.
Zoia’s attorney, Gregory Leslie, told reporters that his client was ‘ecstatic’ with the outcome and that she ‘had a tear or two in her eyes’ when she learned she was not headed to prison.
The social media aficionado shared a selfie with Leslie on Instagram following her sentencing, and later held a party to celebrate the conclusion of her court case.
She was filmed popping champagne and twerking with friends, as local reporters noted she did not adhere to social distancing requirements during her celebrations.
Marcella Zoia, 20, was sentenced to two years probation and 150 hours of community service on Tuesday over a chair-throwing stunt that went viral on social media in February 2019
Zoia had a relatively small social media following before her chair-throwing video sparked widespread outrage last year.
In the clip, the influencer was seen standing on the balcony of a Toronto high-rise before she picked up the chair and hurled it onto the Gardiner Expressway 45 floors below.
The road is one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares and the video showed the chair narrowly missing cars that were zooming along the highway.
The video was viewed hundreds of thousands of times and captured the attention of police, who ordered the offender to hand themselves in.
Zoia subsequently surrendered to authorities and was arrested and charged.
Zoia looked thrill to have avoided jail time as she left her lawyer’s office on Tuesday
The influencer was seen clutching her phone as she was escorted away by a pal. She later held a party to celebrate the conclusion of her court case
Zoia was filmed popping champagne and twerking with friends, as local reporters noted she did not adhere to social distancing requirements during her celebrations
She hired Greg Leslie as her lawyer, who said shortly afterward that Zoia was ’embarrassed’ by her actions.
‘She wished it never happened. Of course, she would never wish anyone would be hurt,’ he stated.
He later claimed Zoia had been drinking alcohol and that she was ‘peer pressured’ by her friends to throw the chair off the balcony.
Zoia boasts 60,000 followers on Instagram and regularly thrills her fans by sharing racy photos
The Toronto-based star – who does not appear to have a full-time job – regularly posts racy photos to Instagram which garner thousands of ‘likes’
After the stunt, Zoia promptly deleted her Instagram and Facebook pages.
However, it wasn’t long before she returned to the social media sites and started to capitalize on her notoriety.
Her followers increased more than ten-fold in the months after the chair-throwing incident. Before the stunt she had just 4,000 Instagram followers. Now, she boasts more than 60,000.
The Toronto-based star – who does not appear to have a full-time job – regularly posts racy photos which garner thousands of ‘likes’.
Zoia has kept her followers up-to-date during her 18-month long legal battle. She is pictured in a selfie snapped before a hearing last year
After the stunt, Zoia promptly deleted her Instagram and Facebook pages. However, it wasn’t long before she returned to the social media sites and started to capitalize on her notoriety