Jussie Smollett, actor of ‘Empire’, is sentenced to five months in prison and cries

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Actor Jussie Smollett, 39, who was part of the cast of the series “Empire”, was sentenced to 150 days, that is, five months in prison for being found guilty of forging a hate crime against himself in 2019. In court, he cried and protested after the revelation of the penalty.

The actor will still have to pay the equivalent of BRL 600,000 to Chicago authorities and a fine of BRL 125,000. In addition, he will have to serve 30 months of probation.

According to Deadline, as the sentence was read and officers prepared to take him to the Cook County Jail, Smollett took off his mask, stood up and repeatedly said, “I’m not suicidal.”

He even gave a warning: “If anything happens to me there [na cadeia], I did not do. I’m not suicidal, I’m innocent,” she said.

The judge in the case was quite blunt with the actor, speaking directly to him and saying that he had turned his “life upside down through his misconduct and antics” and after “falsifying racial and homophobic hate crimes”.

The judge also called him “selfish, arrogant and narcissistic” for his “premeditated” actions. “You are just a charlatan, pretending to be the victim of a hate crime,” concluded the judge.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

Actor Jussie Smollett, who was cast in the television drama “Empire”, has been found guilty of faking a hate crime against himself. According to prosecutors, the crime would have been an attempt to gain sympathy and boost his career.

Prosecutors said Smollett, who is black and gay, lied to police when he said he was approached by two masked strangers on a dark Chicago street in January 2019.

Smollett claimed the attackers put a noose around his neck and threw chemicals at him while shouting racist and homophobic slurs and expressions of support for then US President Donald Trump.

The actor faces a maximum punishment of three years in prison for each charge when he receives the sentences, but may be eligible for parole.

The Cook County jury, which deliberated for nine hours, found the artist guilty of five of the six felony counts of disorderly conduct he faced, one for each time he was accused of lying to the police.

Describing Smollett’s account of what happened as “ridiculous”, Special Counsel Dan Webb told reporters after the verdict that “Mr. they”.

Nenye Uche, the actor’s lead defense attorney, said his client is “an innocent man” who is confident he will see guilty verdicts reversed on appeal.

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