PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia social media influencer Dayjia Blackwell, known as “Meatball” online, pleaded guilty to two charges Thursday in a deal with prosecutors.
In September, Blackwell was arrested, along with dozens of others, for encouraging looters to ransack stores live on social media following a court decision to dismiss murder charges against Mark Dial, the former Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot Eddie Irizarry. Charges were reinstated about a month later.
Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said, in addition to the livestream, Blackwell committed burglary.
Blackwell pleaded guilty to riot with the intent to commit a felony, and criminal use of communication facility. She was sentenced to five years probation, plus 150 hours of community service. She was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
The rest of the charges, including burglary, criminal trespassing, conspiracy, criminal mischief, receiving stolen property and disorderly conduct were all dropped by prosecutors.