Jussie Smollett was found guilty of 5 counts of felony disorderly conduct

Before Empire star Jussie Smollett was guilty of 5 counts of disorderly conduct for making false statements to police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019.

In January 2019, Smollett – who is black and gay – told police he was the victim of a hate crime in downtown Chicago in which two masked men shouted racist and homophobic with him before putting a noose around his neck and pouring an “unknown chemical substance” on him, authorities speak at that time. A grand jury indicted Smollett in February 2020 after authorities investigated his claims and discovered that the actor may have orchestrated the scheme. On Thursday, Smollett was convicted of five of six counts, and acquitted of one count of disorderly conduct. The jurors spent two days deliberating before reaching a verdict.

Smollett’s testimony Significant difference from his accomplices, Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo, who said they were paid by the actor to carry out a mock attack to garner media sympathy. Brothers testified that Smollett led the pair through a “run away” of the alleged hate crime. “He wanted me to do somersaults and throw him to the ground and give him a bruise while my brother Ola would pour bleach on him and wrap a rope around him, and then we will run away,” Abimbola testified. New York Times. During the trial, Smollett maintained her chastity, speech in his testimony that “there was no hoax.”

Smollett faces three years in prison. His defense team said they intend to appeal the ruling. The actor is “100% confident that this will be reversed on appeal,” speak Nenye Uche, Smollett’s attorney, following the ruling. “At the end of the day, we believe justice will prevail. We do not believe it was done today, but we are very confident that he will be cleared and he will be found innocent. “

Smollett is still facing a separate lawsuit from the city of Chicago, after he failed to pay the $130,106.15 requested for the police investigation into his reported assault, Court documents show. In the lawsuit, Chicago’s Code claims that more than two dozen police officers and detectives spent weeks investigating Smollett’s case in 2019, resulting in 1,836 overtime hours. Smollett filed a costumes in November 2019.

Smollett was awarded Seven days to reimburse the city of Chicago, but the actor’s attorneys allege that the claim is intended to “harass and cause irreparable injury to Mr. Smollett.” According to CNN, the city speak in a statement on Thursday that it would continue to “request that he [Smollett] indemnify the City for costs incurred by the Chicago Police Department, which took seriously his false claims of harm. “

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