QLD influencers in court: From high-life to court
From Byron Baes, TikTok celebrities and Insta-influencers who live the #dreamlife, these Queensland social media stars have one thing in common, and it’s not their high follower count. See the list of social celebs busted for their bad ways.
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They’re the reality TV superstars, TikTok content creators and Instagram models that are known for living glamorous lifestyles and sharing it with thousands of people online, but that doesn’t mean that they can avoid getting caught in some hot water.
Influencers caught driving under the influence, fitness gurus caught with cocaine and OnlyFans stars posting revenge porn are just some of the criminal acts that have seen these social media celebs go through Queensland court.
And unfortunately for them, a large subscriber count and thousands of Instagram likes isn’t going to help when you’re facing a magistrate.
Here’s our list of 25 Queensland social media starlets who have ended up in court, and why.
JADE KEVIN FOSTER
Followers: 1.2m
The star from the Netflix reality series Byron Baes yelled “I have 1.2 million Instagram followers, you’re going to lose your jobs” when he was tackled to the ground by security guards at a Gold Coast pub when he refused to leave.
Jade Kevin Foster, 30, was charged with public nuisance after being thrown out of The Clock Hotel in Surfers Paradise on September 16, telling security guards “I’m a gay man, I’m going to f**k your lives” and that his outfit was “worth more than your houses c**t … this will look good on Instagram!”
In October, Southport Magistrates Court heard that the reality TV star had previously been issued an infringement notice for a similar offence and was handed a $827 fine on that occasion.
Foster was spared of a conviction but was imposed a larger fine of $1400 given he has previously been involved in similar matters.
GARRY JAMES TURNER
Followers: 404k
A Gold Coast Instagram influencer caught with steroids does nothing but train, get photos taken and goes to bed early, a court was told.
Former teacher and Insta-famous body builder Garry James Turner, pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court in March 2021 to possessing dangerous drugs and possessing a restricted drug.
Turner was found with a small amount of drostanolone, a type of steroid, and a gel containing sildenafil, the main ingredient in Viagra, when police searched his Biggera Waters Home on November 30, 2019.
Celebrity defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum represented Turner in court stating that the search was part of a drug operation which months earlier had found more steroid-type drugs at Turner’s place.
Turner was sentenced to two years prison with immediate parole for those drug offences in the Supreme Court in September 2020 and was convicted without further punishment for the other drug offences.
CONAN VISSER
Followers: 234.2k
Conan Visser, who started the former anti-bullying children’s charity I Can I Will, pleaded guilty to seven counts of supplying a dangerous drug and one of drug possession after supplying cocaine to friends.
The 37-year-old influencer has over 2.3 million likes on his TikTok page where he creates various documentary series on the effects that eating fast food and drinking alcohol for 30 days straight has on his body.
Visser supplied cocaine, ranging from half a gram to two grams, on seven occasions over a two-month period while he was on bail for assault charges.
In 2020, Visser was given a 12-month sentence to be served as an intensive correction order in the community for domestic violence-related offence before being sentenced a prison term in June 2021 for using a carriage service to harass a woman he had previously assaulted.
For the cocaine charges, Visser was sentenced to nine months’ jail which was suspended for an operational period of two years with convictions recorded.
BRIDGET JOY LARKIN
Followers: 73k
A Gold Coast TikTok star was busted drink driving at almost twice the legal limit after a Halloween party at self proclaimed ‘bogan Aussie version of Hugh Hefner’ Jackson O’Doherty’s Gold Coast mansion.
Bridget Joy Larkin, now 24, was seen attending the wild Halloween bash at the OnlyFans star’s former $2.9m home in social media posts that were uploaded the night of Halloween in October 2021.
Larkin blew 0.09 roadside and was fined $450 and disqualified from driving without conviction in a sentencing at Southport Magistrates Court on November 30 2021.
The day after she was charged, Larking posted a video to Instagram captioned “when mum gets here after I get done dui (sic)” before a woman repeatedly spanks her.
Originally from Canberra, Larkin was a frequent guest at O’Doherty’s eight-sided mansion and promoted herself as being in the top two per cent of OnlyFans content creators.
CHRISTOPHER MARK JENSEN
Followers: 69.1k
Married At First Sight star and now Insta-famous social media influencer Christopher Mark Jensen appeared before Brisbane Supreme Court in August over drug trafficking charges, admitting to trafficking $100,000 worth of cannabis and the supply of cocaine and ecstasy as part of an elaborate drug ring.
Jensen, 34, narrowly avoided jail time after he was found with 197g of cannabis and $5800 in cash in October 2017, leading to police discovering that the then 29-year-old had been purchasing wholesale quantities of cannabis and occasionally cocaine and MDMA.
The reality TV star had used an encrypted messaging app to connect with suppliers and customers, receiving eight supplies of cannabis from June to October 2018 ranging from 450g to seven kilograms.
During his bail from his arrest in 2017, he appeared on TV show Married At First Sight in 2021, leaving after the first week.
He plead guilty to four charges including two counts of supplying a dangerous drug and one count of trafficking a dangerous drug and was sentenced to four years in jail, immediately suspended for four years.
NATHAN JOSHUA FAVRO
Followers: 54.3k
Yet another Byron Baes star on the list, Nathan Favro appeared before Southport Magistrates Court in November over a series of driving blunders.
The reality TV star, also known for his brief stunt on The Bachelorette in 2018, pleaded guilty to one count of unlicensed driving after police spotted him performing an illegal U-turn on the Gold Coast Hwy at Palm Beach on October 9.
When he was pulled over, further checks revealed he was under two demerit-point suspensions at the time.
Favro was fined $100 and disqualified from driving for six months with no conviction recorded.
The social media personality has now moved into the property sector, selling waterfront properties in Broadbeach.
ETHAN JOSEPH MORATTI
Followers: 40k
A teenage TikToker from Redland Bay landed in court after being the “ring leader” in a premeditated home invasion in Brisbane’s west in May 2021.
Ethan Joseph Moratti appeared before Brisbane District Court in May 2022 to plead guilty to armed robbery in company, burglary by break/in company wilful damage, possessing dangerous drugs and obstructing a police officer.
Moratti drove him and two co-accused to the townhouse of a man who allegedly owed him an outstanding debt for drugs, breaking through the front door armed with a baseball bat, sticks and a hammer.
The group went on to destroy and damage the townhouse and demand multiple items from the home including two mobile phones, a Bluetooth speaker, a scooter and a pair of Nike shoes.
The then 19-year-old has had some viral hits on TikTok with videos about marine conservation.
Moratti was placed on probation for three years and ordered to complete 120 hours of community service. No convictions were recorded.
STEFANIE KATE ACWORTH
Followers: 36.3k
A Coolum Beach travel journalist and Instagram influencer was found nearly four times the legal limit after she drove off in her ex-boyfriend’s car after arriving to his house unannounced and finding him with another woman.
Stefanie Kate Acworth, 35, had been dropped off at her ex-boyfriend’s house on January 31, finding her former partner with another woman, prompting her to drive away in his vehicle, which was uninsured and unregistered.
Police found Acworth in the driver’s seat of the car at 9:20pm with the engine running and surrounded by alcohol cans, with a constable stating that she was “verbally abusive and combative with police”, kicking an officer in the knee during her arrest.
Acworth recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.195.
She pleaded guilty in Maroochydore Magistrates Court to being in charge of vehicle while under the influence, failing to provide a specimen of breath, driving uninsured, driving unregistered, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and assaulting a police officer.
Acworth was fined $2000 and disqualified from driving for 12 months, with convictions only recorded for the traffic offences.
MICHAEL ANTHONY LANGANIS
Followers: 15.7k
A barbershop owner with over 15,000 Instagram followers avoided jail in early 2022 after he supplied a bag of cocaine to an undercover police officer who came into his salon asking for drugs.
Michael Anthony Langanis, 26, owner of the Langanis Barber franchise has various stores in Brisbane City, Teneriffe and West End and was targeted as part of a large-scale police operation Operation Sierra Gypsy.
Langanis told the officer he could organise a bag and asked another person to supply $350 of cocaine.
The lucrative businessman was initially facing more serious charges including drug trafficking but the court heard that these were quickly dropped.
Langanis plead guilty to supplying cocaine and 13 summary offences and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation with no conviction recorded.
MIKAYLA NOAKES
Followers: 12k
An Instagram influencer who once had more than 12,000 Instagram followers had a run-in with court after being caught up in a cross-border drug syndicate in 2020.
Mikayla Noakes, 21, pleaded guilty to four charges in Tweed Heads Local Court in March 2021, including: participate criminal group contribute criminal activity, two counts of supply prohibited drug and possess prohibited drug.
Noakes was among a group of seven accused of being part of a syndicate supplying cocaine across the Gold Coast and Tweed, with other members including her boyfriend Tate Robinson, and former Titans star Michael Gordon.
According to court documents, police intercepted about 34,000 “phone activations” between various members of the group during the investigation that led to their arrests.
Noaks was sentenced to a 12 month intensive correction order with conditions to perform 100 hours community service and was fined $300.
DANIEL LANGANIS
Followers: 11k
The social media influencer who was caught driving an unregistered vehicle in Brisbane in March 2021 feared the charges would be “quite a big hit against (his) name”.
Daniel Langanis, then 21, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court in September 2021 after driving an uninsured and unregistered Mercedes Benz in Newstead.
The Gold Coast influencer has 11,000 followers on Instagram and told the court that he was “completely unaware that it was not insured or registered”.
Langanis was fined $350 and no convictions were recorded.
Langanis was dealt with by a court previously for shoplifting which saw him placed on a good behaviour bond for six months.
KYLA ANN HUTTON
Followers: 9002
The owner of a Sunshine Coast cleaning business and TikTok personality appeared before court after her house was raided by police on October 19 for a drug search.
Kyla Ann Hutton appeared in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on November 24 and pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs and possessing a glass pipe after police found a pink backpack with a clip seal bag containing less than a gram of a crystal substance in her Maroochydore home.
She represented herself in court and was fined $600 without a conviction recorded.
Hutton also recently appeared on an episode of A Current Affair after former Block contestant and radio host Jess Eva caught her filming a “sexy video” in her master bedroom while she was supposed to be cleaning her house for $650.
In the episode that aired on October 31, Eva confronts Hutton about the TikTok video she accidentally sent to her, as well as how she had trashed the property after staying there overnight.
A Current Affair also revealed that Hutton has started an OnlyFans account.
BREANNA JADE LONG
Followers: 8624
Insta-mogul Breanna Jade Long was told it was “only good luck” that no one was injured after she rolled a vehicle in Noosa and fled the scene, following an afternoon of drinking bourbon and cokes.
The 20-year-old social media starlet pleaded guilty at Noosa Magistrates Court December 13 to dangerous driving, unlicensed driving, driving without an interlock and drink-driving after she drove “at speed” through a 40kmh zone on Sunshine Beach Rd before clipping a roundabout and flipping the car sideways.
All three occupants in the vehicle had to smash both passenger-side windows to exit the car, with Long taking off on foot.
Long approached a police vehicle after mistaking them for a taxi where she provided an alcohol reading of 0.131 and told police she could not afford an interlock device and had not renewed her licence.
She was sentenced a year’s probation and 60 hours of community service as well as a disqualification from driving for nine months.
A conviction was not recorded for the dangerous driving charge but convictions were recorded for the other offences.
CHRISTOPHER STEVEN BOWTELL
Followers: 8502
A Far North businessman and tattoo artist was jailed in October 2021 after being discovered running a mail order business selling cannabidiol (CBD) in a landmark sentence imposed by the Cairns District Court.
Christopher Steven Bowtell pleaded guilty to possession and trafficking of prohibited Schedule 2 drug cannabidiol for 12 months between March 2019 and 2020.
He also plead guilty to possession of a flick knife and two counts of unlawful possession of prescription drugs.
Crown legal officer Emily Thambyah told the court that Bowtell had marketed a range of branded products containing CBD making a total profit of “just shy of $170,000.”
Bowtell was sentenced to 28 months jail with a parole release date of April 13 2022.
SIENNA GAZELLE RIDGEWAY
Followers: 5995
An Instagram influencer and model was told by a magistrate that there was no ‘grey area’ for her drink driving after she was busted by police almost three times over the limit in Noosa Heads in December 2021.
Sienna Gazelle Ridgeway, then 21, was pulled over along Sunshine Beach Rd in Noosa Heads in December 2021 where she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.137 per cent.
With no previous criminal record Ridgeway plead guilty to drink driving and was fined $700 and disqualified from driving for four months without a conviction.
LEE UNDY
Followers: 4992
A former Port Douglas gym owner and former Bandido was handed a total of eight years jail in the Cairns Supreme Court in February 2021 after supplying more than 1kg of cocaine to a man he had met at a baby shower.
Lee Undy, now in his early 50s, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug supply and one count of contravening an order after refusing to give police access to his mobile phone.
Undy who was a former Bandido sergeant-at-arms in Melbourne moved to Queensland in 2013 and reportedly declared bankruptcy in 2019.
According to Undy’s Instagram he has “found God in a prison cell” and describes himself as a motivational speaker.
Undy will be eligible for parole in February 2023.
JAVON JOHANSON
Followers: 4248
With just under 5000 followers, this Gold Coast local went viral on social media after running shirtless onto the pitch at a Gold Coast Titans NRL match before being crash-tackled by a security guard in front of a crowd of people.
Javon Johanson said the incident had cost her “more than I could ever imagine” in Southport Magistrates Court in April, revealing that her streaking incident had ended her three year relationship due to the embarrassment she caused him.
Her well-known defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum told the court Johanson had already faced “extra-curial” punishment, including ruthless personal attacks by strangers online and that she had issued apologies to the NRL, Titans and Parramatta Eels.
The Titans pitch invader also wrote a letter apologising to the security guard who had tackled her, stating that she hopes that his employment had not been put into any jeopardy.
Johanson pleaded guilty to entering a major sports facility without permission and was issued a three-month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded.
DOUGLAS JAN GLEESON
Followers: 2966
The former Bundaberg barber who once made a TikTok video urging people not to sell drugs that gained over 24,000 views, appeared before court on December 20 from custody after being busted with cocaine, LSD and marijuana.
Douglas Jan Gleeson appeared before Bundaberg Magistrates Court via video link in December where a police prosecutor told the court that a search warrant was carried out on Gleeson’s home after he admitted to having drugs.
Gleeson led police to a shopping bag under his bed containing 900g of marijuana, a tin box containing 13g of cocaine, several squares of LSD, a glass bong and $600 in cash.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one count each of possessing used drug utensils and possessing suspected proceeds of a drug offence.
Gleeson was sentenced to eight months’ jail, suspended for 15 months.
ANNA LOUISE HUMENIUK
A young Brisbane real estate professional was given a “second chance” by a magistrate after her underground drug-dealing habits were revealed in court.
Anna Louise Humeniuk, 27, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court in October pleading guilty to four counts of supplying an “unspecified” amount of an “unspecified” drug.
The Newstead social media influencer appeared before court with her lawyer Adam Guest who said his client’s actions were “at the behest of someone else”.
A magistrate rejected those claims but told Humeniuk that she deserves a second chance but “don’t expect a third.”
She was ordered to pay a $3000 fine and convictions were not recorded.
Humeniuk’s social media accounts have been deleted following her sentencing.
PHYBIE MARIE SLOSS
A young Moreton Bay mum fronted court after posting a sex tape and explicit pictures of an ex-lover on her OnlyFans page in June as an act of revenge porn.
Phybie Marie Sloss from North Lakes pleaded guilty in Pine Rivers Magistrates Court in November to distributing intimate images without consent following her post onto her adult content page in June.
The court heard that Sloss posted three intimate images and one video, depicting a sexual act between her and the victim, to get back at his new partner.
A court was told that one of the images was posted and captioned “this is for you” with a heart emoji after the victim’s ex-partner contacted her to request the posts be taken down.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment but Sloss was sentenced to three months good behaviour with a bond of $300.
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