Jussie Smollett Convicted of Staging Attack, Lying to Police
Actor Jussie Smollett, center, returns to the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Chicago, after the jury notified Cook County Judge James Linn that they have reached a verdict in Smollett’s trial. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A jury in Chicago has convicted Jussie Smollett on five of six charges he lied to Chicago police about being the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack.
A prosecutor says a jury’s guilty verdict is “a resounding message” that the former “Empire” actor staged an attack on himself and lied to police about it.
Jurors acquitted him on one charge.
Two brothers testified during the nearly two-week trial that Smollett paid them to fake the January 2019 attack in downtown Chicago.
Smollett repeatedly denied the claims, telling jurors “there was no hoax.”
The charges carry a possible sentence of three years in prison, though legal experts say the 39-year-old Smollett is more likely to get probation and be ordered to perform community service.
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