Jussie Smollett Convicted Of 5 Of 6 Counts of Perpetrating Fake Hate Crime Against Himself
Actor Jussie Smollett is now officially a race hoaxer after being convicted on five of six counts leveled against him in a Chicago trial.
The former Empire star was accused of faking a hate crime in Jan. of 2019 in an effort to fool his TV bosses into paying him more money for his work on the black-centric TV series.
Smollett has continued to push the bald-faced lie that he did not commit a fake hate crime against himself. Now, a jury has officially branded him a liar.
Per CBS Chicago:
A jury of six men and six women deliberated more than nine hours over two days before finding Smollett guilty of five of six counts of disorderly conduct, accusing the actor of staging a fake racist and homophobic attack against himself in January 2019, and then lying to police about it, in a bid for publicity. Jurors found him not guilty of the sixth count of disorderly conduct.
The disorderly conduct charges are class 4 felonies, carrying a sentence of up to three years in prison.
CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller has said it’s unlikely Smollett would be sentenced to significant time in prison, if any, despite a previous DUI arrest during which he gave false information to police by giving his brother’s name when he was asked to identify himself.
“He’s not a first offender. He had a case a few years ago, where he was found guilty of giving false information to the police, and that’s basically what he did in this case. The law in Illinois says you should get probation on a class 4 felony, which is what he’s charged with, but because he does he have this background that may tip the scales, a little bit towards giving him a little jail time,” Miller said.
Chicago Police investigators claimed that Smollett arranged for two brothers who are friends to perpetrate a fake hate crime so he could gain sympathy in the press.
Smollett even admitted on the stand that he was close to the Osundairo brothers and that he even paid them to help him with physical training and nutrition advice.
But investigators tracked the two men’s movements leading up to the fake hate crime and found them on surveillance cameras buying the materials needed for the faux attack on the actor.
Police also said that, despite the area being blanketed in surveillance cameras, no one matching Smollett’s description — two white men in MAGA caps — were seen anywhere in the area during the supposed attack.
It became clear to investigators that Smollett made a false police report and told lie after lie — both to them and to the media — about the supposed attack.
The full sentence that Smollett will face will be announced later this month.
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