Jury convicts on five of six counts.
QUICK FACTS:
- Actor Jussie Smollett was convicted Thursday of staging a hate crime with five out of six charges brought against him following the anti-Trump hoax he organized and perpetrated in Chicago.
- The conviction comes three years after he claimed two masked pro-Trumpers in MAGA hats attacked him, tying a noose around his neck, shouting racist and homophobic curs, beating him, and dousing him in bleach.
- Jurors decided Smollett’s claims were an elaborate bid to raise his public profile and boost his career.
- “Twelve jurors in Chicago criminal court found the disgraced actor guilty of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report following testimony from 13 witnesses and more than nine hours of deliberation,” The New York Post reports.
- “As the jurors read out the verdict, Smollett, 39, stood huddled with his attorneys and kept his eyes trained on the panelists, remaining stoic as a phalanx of family members, who watched the eight-day trial from the front row of the gallery, sat frozen.”
- Smollett faces up to three years in jail.
NATIONAL FILE REPORTS:
He claimed it was because he is a gay, black, man, and that the attackers also shouted “This is MAGA Country” during the assault. This was determined to be a complete fabrication by police investigators, and now the jury has determined that Smollett committed crimes.
…
After months of investigation, it was found that Smollett paid two brothers – Abel and Ola Osundairo – $3,500 to help him stage his hate hoax. It was revealed Smollett was in a romantic relationship with one of the brothers during the trial. He was charged with the following:
Count 1: Smollett described to Chicago Police Officer Muhammed Baig that he was the victim of a hate crime and that two attackers put a rope around his neck
Count 2: Smollett told Chicago Police Officer Muhammed Baig that he was a victim of a battery, saying that the attackers beat and poured a chemical on him
Counts 3 and 4: Smollett made the same claims but to a different officer, Officer Kimberly Murray
Count 5: Smollet told Officer Kimberly Murray later that day that he was the victim of battery
Count 6: Smollett told Detective Robert Graves that he had been a victim of aggravated battery
All six counts describe disorderly conduct under a subsection of the law that prohibit false reports to police. Each charge is classified as a class 4 felony, and convictions can carry potential prison time of up to three years. Smollett was convicted of charges one through five, and was found not found guilty on count six.
The disgraced actor is expected to reappear in court for sentencing next year. He is remanded to custody pending sentencing.
