Jussie Smollett has been sentenced in a Chicago court on Thursday March 10, 2022 for falsely reporting he was the victim of a hate crime to authorities.

Jussie was given to 30 months probation, with the first 150 days to be spent in a Cook County Jail for his sentence. He must also pay restitution in the amount of $120,000 along with an additional $25,000 fine.

Before his sentencing, a judge denied a motion from his attorneys to set aside the guilty verdict.

via CNN:

Smollett, 39, was found guilty in December on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for making false reports about what he said was an anti-gay and anti-Black hate crime.

The actor, who is Black and gay, told Chicago police that on a frigid night in January 2019 two unknown men attacked him, yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, poured bleach on him and wrapped a noose around his neck.

Celebrities and politicians rushed to defend him publicly, and Chicago police investigated the case as a possible hate crime. But they soon determined the actor orchestrated the incident and paid two brothers he knew from the Fox drama “Empire” to stage the incident for publicity.

Actor Jussie Smollett found guilty of lying to police in hate crime hoax
Actor Jussie Smollett found guilty of lying to police in hate crime hoax
Smollett maintained his innocence under oath during the trial, but the jury convicted him on five of six felony charges after nine hours of deliberations.

A disorderly conduct charge for a false crime report is a class 4 felony in Illinois, each punishable by up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Cook County Judge James Linn has discretion in imposing a concurrent or consecutive sentence for each of the five counts. He is allowed to sentence Smollett to probation, conditional discharge, community service, restitution or a combination. Conditional discharge is a release with stipulations but without probational supervision.

At the hearing Thursday afternoon, Smollett attorney Tina Glandian argued that the guilty verdict should be overturned and a new trial granted based on legal errors leading up to and during the trial. Sean Wieber, deputy special prosecutor, said in response that her arguments were “meritless” and that the conviction should stand.

Judge Linn denied the defense’s request.

“I stand by my findings and rulings. I do believe that at the end of the day that Mr. Smollett received a fair trial,” he said.

Following his sentencing, Jussie addressed the court proclaiming his innocence. He also declared that he is not suicidal and said that if anything happens to him in jail he didn’t do it to himself.