Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty Thursday on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct for making a false report to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019 — an attack prosecutors said he staged.The jury of six men and six women deliberated for more than nine hours over Wednesday and Thursday.Smollett, dressed in a suit and tie, appeared rigid after the verdict was read in court late in the afternoon. He did not move and was seen gazing straight ahead. His fingers were interlaced and his hands were on the table. He didn’t look at his family or the judge, instead focusing in the direction of the jury.
- A disorderly conduct charge for a false crime report is a Class 4 felony and punishable by up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Cook County Judge James Linn will have discretion in imposing a concurrent or consecutive sentence for each count at a later date.
- Special prosecutor Dan Webb said at a news conference that he was proud of the jury.
- “Mr. Smollett would not have lost this case as he did today unless the jury found that he lied to them,” he said. “The fact that he came up with a completely ridiculous story to explain his misconduct did not apparently have an impact on the jury’s verdict.”
