A 31-year-old Ontario man who hurled a crude insult at a female judge during a court appearance has been sentenced to 32 months in prison.
Dylan Zona was convicted of criminally harassing four people, including two Barrie police officers, over incidents that took place between 2022 and 2024, CTV News reported. His sentence was handed down Monday at Barrie County Court.
Justice Nancy Dawson said in court that Zona had fixated on the officers and their families, characterizing his conduct as “hate-motivated.”
According to the report, the court heard that Zona at one point contacted the mother of one officer and threatened to harm her grandchildren and poison the family dog.
He also claimed he had the right to put one of the officers “six feet under,” the court was told.
With credit for time already served in custody, Zona has roughly 16 months remaining on his sentence.
Zona previously drew attention during a 2024 court appearance when he lashed out at Justice Cecilia Applegate, a regional senior judge, telling her to shut her “wh**e mouth.” His mother was seated beside him when the outburst occurred.
That hearing also included several other profane remarks from Zona, including “Kiss my a**” and “F*** you.”
Although Zona was initially released on bail and fitted with an ankle monitor, he continued to mock police, judges and female court staff with insulting and misogynistic comments on Facebook, the court was told.
Dylan Zona, 31, of Canada, was sentenced to 32 months behind bars for harassing and threatening police officers and their families between 2022 and 2024
Zona stunned a courtroom during a previous hearing when her told a regional senior judge to shut her ‘wh**e mouth’
One post featured a caption demanding that a female judge show him her breasts.
In several public posts, Zona appeared to argue with users about law enforcement, at one point telling a relative of police officers that their loved ones should ‘die.’
In court he argued that he was suffering from mental health issues and alcohol addiction.
He said he had begun hearing voices and becoming increasingly angry at authority after ‘bad interactions’ with officers.
‘I haven’t hurt anybody. I haven’t killed anybody. I can still say I am sorry. I understand it’s an honest mistake. It’s words,’ he told the court.
Zona added that his father had been murdered by his uncle when he was three years old, that his mother had suffered from addiction issues and that his sister died from an overdose.
Another one of his sisters, who was present on Monday, revealed that she had previously been estranged from him due to his misogynistic behavior, according to the outlet.
Zona threatened an officer’s mother, telling her he would hurt her grandchildren, poison the family dog and that he had the right to put one of the cops ‘six feet under’, the court was told
Zona begged for forgiveness, claiming he was receiving help in jail and wanted to return to school, get a job and start a family. The court was not provided with medical records supporting his mental health claims.
Crown attorney Indy Kandola questioned his sincerity and pointed to his ongoing Facebook activity and hostility toward women.
After the courtroom outburst in August 2024, Zona attended a hearing at which the judge accepted his apology and no further action was taken.
He was initially released but later taken back into custody for breaching his conditions and remained in jail until sentencing this week.
Zona was ordered not to contact victims or post threatening content online and to stay away from Barrie after his release. He was also banned from carrying weapons for 20 years once freed.
