Jussie Smollet was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of felony probation, $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago, and a maximum fine of $25,000 today (March 10) in a Chicago courtroom by Judge James Linn.
The actor would be immediately remanded into custody.
After he was sentenced, Jussie made the following statement:
I am not suicidal. I am innocent and I am not suicidal.
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 LGBTQ community.
Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this.
And I am not suicidal.
If anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself and you must all know that!
A voice was heard as Jussie left the courtroom saying, “Stop locking our Black men up.”
Watch the clip below.
The incident occurred three years ago on January 29, 2019, Smollet claimed he was the victim of a hate crime.
He claimed he was attacked by two men who punched him, put a noose around his neck, and called him racial slurs while screaming, “This is MAGA country!”
After an investigation, the police determined the story was made up.
Jussie was initially indicted on 16 charges, but those charges were eventually dismissed.
Chicago Police Department, frustrated with the money they spent on an investigation that turned out to be a hoax, hired a special prosecutor who charged Jussie with 6 felony counts.
He was found guilty on 5 of the 6 counts by a jury in Illinois in December 2021.
Jussie was not taken into custody after the verdict.
He remained free until today’s (March 10) hearing.
Jussie Smollet has maintained his innocence.
He filed documents in February 2021 requesting a new trial alleging that his defense team was not allowed to participate in the jury selection process.
The judge heard many people speaking on Jussie’s behalf before his sentencing, including his brother Joel Smollett and his 92-year-old grandmother Molly Smollett.
Many of Jussie’s celebrity friends wrote letters urging the judge to grant him leniency given he was convicted of a Class 4 crime and has no prior criminal record.
Despite all the pleas from his family and friends, the judge lit into Jussie prior to announcing his sentence calling his actions “self-inflicting” and referencing him becoming a known liar in the media, and he even voiced the term “pulling a Jussie.”
This was an very hard verdict to digest considering the crime that was committedl
Source: TMZ
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