Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been sentenced after being convicted last year of falsely claiming to police that he was the victim of a hate crime.
Smollett was sentenced in a Chicago court yesterday, March 10, more than two years after the January 2019 reports in which he claimed he had experienced a hate crime.
The actor told police at the time that two unknown men had attacked him, targeted him with racist and homophobic slurs, poured bleach on him and wrapped a noose around his neck.
Officers investigated the incident, but later determined the actor had orchestrated the stunt for publicity by paying two brothers he knew from the show Empire.
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Smollett was initially indicted on 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct, but just weeks later the charges were dropped, with Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office saying the actor had done community service and would not get his bond back, and that he was of no danger to the community and had no prior felony convictions.
The move sparked backlash, prompting a judge to appoint a special prosecutor, Daniel Webb, to the case. Smollett was then indicted on six felony counts of disorderly conduct.
During Smollett's trial, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo testified the actor had both directed them and paid them to stage the attack, in which they said they pretended to punch him as well as using bleach, a noose and racist and homophobic slurs, CNN reports.
While testifying in his own defence, Smollett argued he had paid the brothers, but only for training advice and nutritional tips. He also claimed to have had a sexual relationship with one of the brothers, which they denied.
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In December, Smollett was found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct; a Class 4 felony punishable by up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. He was acquitted of making a false report to Chicago detective weeks after his initial reports about the alleged attack.
In April 2019, the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Smollett demanding the actor covered the costs of the police investigation, which they said amounted to $130,106.15 due to 1,836 hours of overtime which went into the case. Smollett filed a countersuit in November 2020, and following the actor's conviction the city made clear that it plans to continue pursuing its lawsuit.
The investigation took up a total of 1,426 hours and 1,837 hours overtime spread across 30 different police officers from the Chicago Police Department, BBC News reports.
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Dozens of witnesses were interviewed, surveillance videos analysed and letters were also read as testaments to Smollett by actor Samuel L Jackson and civil rights leader Jess Jackson.
However, prosecutors branded Smollett's defence team's attempts to get the case thrown out or a mistrial declared as 'finger-pointing and scapegoating'.
The actor has since been sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months of probation, of which he will serve the first 150 days of his probation in custody. His probation will begin immediately.
Smollett has also been charged $145,000 (£110,000), of which $120,106 is restitution to the city of Chicago. The remaining $25,000 is the maximum fine allowed by the law.
Judge James Linn said: 'There is nothing that I can do here today that can come close to the damage you've already done to your own life. You've turned your life upside down by your conduct and shenanigans.
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'You're just a charlatan pretending to be a victim of a hate crime, and that's shameful.'
After receiving his sentence, Smollett declared: 'I am innocent, and I am not suicidal.'
Leaving the courtroom with his fist raised in the air, the actor concluded: 'If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community. But I did not do this.'
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Topics: Crime, US News, Entertainment, Film and TV, Celebrity
