Actor Jussie Smollett, widely known for his role as Jamal Lyon on the hit show Empire, will be sentenced for staging a fake hate crime on Mar. 10.
Last month, on Dec. 9, Smollett was convicted on five counts in the hoax hate crime case. He was charged for making fabricated reports to Chicago police that he was the victim of a racially motivated attack by two men near his home in 2019. He claimed that the men yelled homophobic and racist slurs at him then, they poured bleach on him and wrapped his neck in a noose. However, Chicago police investigated the case and revealed that the 39-year-old actor paid two Nigerian brothers –whom he knew from Empire $35,000 to stage the false crime.
The brothers, named Bola and Ola Osundairo, both testified that Smollett paid them to create a bogus attack to gain media publicity. One of the brothers reportedly told jurors that the actor said he “had this crazy idea of having two MAGA supporters attack him” and that he wanted to upload it to social media.
Yet, in his defense, Smollett testified, saying that he only paid the Osundairo brothers for advice on nutrition and gym training. He also recounted a sexual relationship with one of them.
A Black juror for the case, the only one on the panel, said he felt more African American jurors should have been present.
“…how can we say that this is a jury of your peers when there’s only one African American? And there were plenty there, so you could’ve gotten two, three, four. African Americans can handle the truth, too. And we can give an impartial judgment on a case.”
Smollett’s disorderly conduct charge is a Class 4 Felony resulting in a $25,000 fine and up to three years in prison. Cook County Judge James B. Linn will determine if the actor gets a consecutive or concurrent sentence for each of his five counts.
