Actor Jussie Smollett found guilty of faking hate crime

The former star of the TV show Empire faces up to 15 years in prison after being convicted on five of six charges of felony disorderly conduct.

Jussie Smollett arrives at the Chicago court for the delivery of the verdict on Thursday. Picture: AFP

US actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty on Friday AEDT of lying to police when he reported being the victim of a hate crime in the early morning hours of a frigid night near his apartment nearly three years ago.

A Cook County, Chicago, jury found Smollett guilty of five of the six counts of felony disorderly conduct against him. Each count carries up to three years in prison, although he could also face probation based on his lack of previous felony convictions.

Smollett showed little reaction as the verdicts were read. The jury deliberated for about nine hours over two days before rendering its verdict.

He was the star of the hit show Empire when he told police that two men had used racist, antigay language and a pro-Trump slogan before hitting and kicking him and placing a noose around his neck around 2am on January 29, 2019.

Two brothers, who were originally arrested as suspects in the case, became the prosecution’s star witnesses. They testified last week that they believed a $US3500 payment from Smollett covered diet and fitness training and the staging of a fake hate crime. They said the motive for the hoax was that the producers of Empire weren’t taking seriously enough a piece of hate mail Smollett had received about a week before the attack.

Smollett took the stand in his own defence, saying that he was happy with the studio and that if anything it was taking the hate mail too seriously by assigning him security that he didn’t want. He also said that he didn’t want to call police about the alleged attack because it would ruin his chances to be taken seriously in future roles playing sports figures or a comic-book hero.

He was originally charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police, but the case was dropped when he agreed to surrender his bail money and do community service.

But a special prosecutor was later named and presented evidence before a grand jury that charged Smollett with six counts of disorderly conduct. He also faces a civil lawsuit brought by the city of Chicago over overtime it paid detectives working on the case.

Smollett was fired from Empire and said during his testimony that he had failed to find work since. “I’ve lost my livelihood,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal