Former ‘Empire’ Actor Jussie Smollett Found Guilty of Disorderly Conduct

The Jussie Smollett saga sees a new chapter, as an Illinois jury found the former Empire actor guilty last week on five counts of disorderly conduct related to lying about being the victim of a racist and anti-gay hate crime to police.

It began in early 2019, when it was widely believed that Smollett was attacked for being an out, gay man in the public eye. As details began coming to light, like the two attackers actually knowing Smollett, the Chicago Police Department announced soon after that they believed Smollett had orchestrated the attack.

Smollett now faces up to three years in prison, and the defense is vowing to appeal the verdict finding that Smollett lied to Chicago police.

“We remain 100 percent confident in our client’s innocence,” says Nenya Uche, Smollett’s attorney.

The prosecution concluded Smollett had recruited the brothers to stage the hate crime in Streeterville in January 2019 because he was upset over a threatening letter he’d reported that his studio didn’t take seriously. The siblings said it was a hoax devised by Smollett for media attention, but Smollett testified that the attack was real, and the brothers were lying.

“Not only did Mr. Smollett lie to the police and wreak havoc here in this city for weeks on end for no reason whatsoever, but then he compounded the problem by lying under oath to a jury,” says Special Prosecutor Dan Webb

The Chicago Police Department didn’t comment on the verdict, but former SPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson reflect on the case, which he said was questionable from the beginning.

“Let’s face it. You look at that video of that noose. I will say this; there’s no Black man in America that would have a noose put around their neck and leave it on,” Johnson says. “They just won’t do that. That first thing they’re going to do is take it off.”

No sentencing date has been set, and Smollett faces between one and three years in prison. Experts say it’s possible that he will just get probation, as he has no criminal record.