Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool
Empire star Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to jail time for staging his own hate crime and filing a false report with police.
According to PEOPLE, Smollett received 30 months of felony probation, with the first 150 days spent in jail. In addition to his sentence, Smollett will pay $120,106 in restitution and receive the maximum fine of $25,000.
Smollet declined to address the court before receiving his sentence, but his defense team brought longtime friends of the actor to speak to his character and maintain his innocence.
After Cook County Judge James Linn issued his sentencing decision, Smollett stood, removed his mask and defiantly maintained his innocence. “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,” Smollett said.
He continued, “Your Honour, I respect you and I respect the jury but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.”
As Smollett was led out of the courtroom, he continued to plead his innocence. “I am innocent,” he yelled. “I could have said I am guilty a long time ago.”
Smollett was originally indicted back in March 2019 with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report. At the time he claimed that two men attacked him late at night while he was on his way home from a Subway sandwich shop.
Olivia Di Pede
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