Jussie Smollett arrives in court for sentencing. Photo / Getty Images
Jussie Smollett arrives in court for sentencing. Photo / Getty Images
Actor Jussie Smollett returned to court today, where he learned his fate from Judge James Linn who ordered the actor to serve 150 days in jail, in conjunction with a 30-month felony probation.
The judge also ordered Smollett to pay $120,000 (NZ$175,000) restitution to the Chicago police in addition to a maximum fine of $26,000 (NZ$37,000) after he was convicted of lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack that he was found to have orchestrated himself.
The Empire actor loudly proclaimed his innocence after the sentence and made comments surrounding his mental state.
"I am innocent. I could have said I am guilty a long time ago," Smollett shouted as sheriff's deputies led him out of the courtroom, capping an hours-long sentencing hearing.
Judge Linn denied a request to suspend Smollett's sentence and ordered he be placed in custody immediately.
Before the sentencing began, Linn also rejected a motion from the defence to overturn the jury's verdict on legal grounds. Judges rarely grant such motions.
"I do believe at the end of the day that Mr Smollett received a fair trial," Linn said.
BREAKING: Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in county jail for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack that a jury concluded the actor had staged himself. Smollett was also ordered on Thursday to pay $120K restitution. https://t.co/TY7M7cLO3o
Defence attorney Tina Glandian said legal errors predate the trial and argued that a county judge did not have the legal authority to permit a second prosecution of Smollett led by special prosecutors after Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office dropped all charges against him.
Sean Wieber, a member of the special prosecution team, said in his response to the motion that the evidence "overwhelmingly established Mr Smollett's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt".
Smollett continued to deny his role in the staged attack in January 2019 and faced up to three years in prison for each of the five felony counts of disorderly conduct — the charge filed for lying to police — of which he was convicted. He was acquitted on a sixth count.
Jussie Smollett in 2021. Photo / Getty Images
But because Smollett does not have an extensive criminal history and the conviction is for a low-level nonviolent crime, experts did not expect that he would be sent to prison. The actor was expected to serve up to a year in county jail or be placed on probation and ordered to perform some kind of community service.
The sentencing could be the final chapter in a criminal case, subject to appeal, that made international headlines when Smollett, who is black and gay, reported to police that two men wearing ski masks beat him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dark Chicago street and ran off.
In December, Smollett was convicted in a trial that included the testimony of two brothers who told jurors Smollett paid them to carry out the attack, gave them money for the ski masks and rope, and instructed them to fashion the rope into a noose.
Prosecutors said he told them what racist and homophobic slurs to shout, and to yell that Smollett was in "MAGA Country", a reference to the campaign slogan of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Smollett, who knew the men from his work on the television show Empire that filmed in Chicago, testified that he did not recognise them and did not know they were the men attacking him.
