Jussie Smollett jailed for staging racist and homophobic attack

Jussie Smollett has been jailed 150 days for staging a hoax hate crime.

The former Empire star was found guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct in December after lying to the police claiming to be the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in March 2019.

As the sentence was handed down in a Cook County courtroom in Chicago on Thursday (March 11), the 39-year-old actor told the court: "Your honour, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this."

He also told the court: "And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that."

Along with the custodial sentence, Jussie was given 30 months of felony probation and ordered to pay US$120,106 (S$163,000) in restitution and a US$25,000 fine.

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The presiding judge labelled the actor a "charlatan" and commented that he had done harm to real victims of hate crimes, many too frightened to come forward to tell the authorities.

The judge James Linn also expressed fears that people might be reluctant to believe other stories of similar - but real - injustices, saying he had committed ""hour upon hour of perjury" while "lying" while testifying on the stand.

Throughout the trial, Jussie maintained his innocence and fought against the allegations that he had hired brothers Abel and Bola Osundairo to help stage the attack.

In February, Jussie filed the papers to initiate a new trial, citing that his lawyers had not been able to assist in the picking of the jury. In addition, he asked the judge to reserve the verdict and is involved in a civil case related to the incident.