Colombian influencer Daneidy Barrera Rojas, known as Epa Colombia, was sentenced to five years behind bars after filming herself vandalizing public property during a protest.

In November 2019, Colombia was rocked by violent protests against the government of former president Iván Duque. It was during this time that popular influencer Daneidy Barrera Rojas posted a video of herself vandalizing a public transportation station in Bogota, smashing windows, card readers, and access registers with a hammer, and painting the walls with spray paint. The video quickly went viral, getting her tons of attention online, but it also became the topic of an investigation that culminated in an initial prison sentence of three and a half years for property damage and disruption of public transportation. Epa Colombia later apologized for her actions, but that didn’t help much, as the Prosecutor’s Office appealed the sentence and secured a 5-year prison sentence and a fine equivalent to 493 monthly minimum wages.

Daneidy’s defense attorney filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Justice to have her sentence reduced, but on January 27, the court upheld the previous sentence and ordered her arrest, which has since been carried out. In a video that has been doing the rounds online, the popular entrepreneur and influencer could be seen crying and complaining about the sentence against her.

“Girls, I am very sad,” the influencer tells her followers. I came to work at the hair salon all day. I was leaving, already on my way home, and the police grabbed me. I have an arrest warrant, they were going to grab me, but I told them to wait until my lawyer was there.”

 

“How sad to leave my hair salon and have my entire work team see me getting taken to the Prosecutor’s bunker,” Daneidy continued. “I always wanted to fix the TransMilenio (the Colombian public transportation company), pay for it, and improve in these five years. The only thing I have done is get ahead, work, and create jobs.”

Boasting over 5.2 million followers on Instagram alone, Daneidy Barrera Rojas is one of the most popular influencers in Colombia. Colombia One reports that, as part of her sentence, Epa Colombia was also banned from using social media.