An ex-Empire actor who staged a hate crime against himself will be spending five months behind bars
Jussie Smollett, a former star of ‘Empire’ has been sentenced and given a large fine after lying repeatedly to officers about an alleged hate crime attack that he experienced in January 2019.
Smollett, who will remain in Cook County Jail for the next 150-days, must also pay $120,000 in Restitution and a $25,000 Fine to misleading officers investigating his claim that he was a victim of hate crimes. This decision came from a Chicago court on Thursday.
Smollett is now subject to probation for 30 month after he has completed his sentence. Following the hearing, he addressed the court to declare his innocence. “suicidal.”
“If I do anything, it’s not my fault.” Smollett said.
Five of six charges of lying to police regarding the January 29th, 2019 events were brought against Smollett in December 2017. Smollett was black and gay and claimed that he had been attacked by two masked men. They threw an object over his head, shouted homophobic slogans, and even hurled racist and homophobic insults at him.
Initial support was received mainly from American liberals and the then-Democratic presidential candidates. Joe BidenKamala Harris is his running mate.
As the police investigation unfolded, cracks began to appear in Smollett’s story, however. Smollett later hired the two Nigerian brothers to create a hate attack for $3,500. The actor reportedly gave the brothers money to buy supplies – bleach and a rope – and had them rehearse an attack before the incident.
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