Actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced by a Chicago judge Thursday to 150 days in jail for staging a hate crime.
Cook County Judge James Linn sentenced Smollett to 30 months of felony probation and 150 days in the county jail. He was immediately placed in custody.
Before being led out of the courtroom, Smollett shouted “I am innocent. I could have said I was guilty a long time ago”.
“I did not do this and I am not suicidal and if anything happens to me when I go there, I did not do it to myself and you must all know that,” he continued.
Linn asked Smollett if he wanted to say anything before his sentencing, but he declined. His attorney, Nenye Uche, explained that he advised against it because of their plans to appeal the conviction.
“You’re not the victim of a racist hate crime, you’re not the victim of a homopobic hate crime, you’re just a charlatan pretending to be the victim of a hate crime and that’s shameful especially,” Linn said in the courtroom.
In December, Smollett was found guilty on five out of six charges at his hate crime hoax trial.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot commented on the sentencing, saying “The criminal conviction of Jussie Smollett by a jury of his peers and today’s sentencing should send a clear message to everyone in the City of Chicago that false claims and allegations will not be tolerated”.
“The malicious and wholly fabricated claim made by Mr. Smollett resulted in over 1500 hours of police work that cost the City over $130,000 in police overtime,” she continued. “he City feels vindicated in today’s ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions”.
Along with his probation and jail time, Smollett was ordered to pay Chicago $120,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.
