Jussie Smollett gets 150 days in jail for faking hate crime against himself
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Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail by a Chicago judge on Thursday for lying to police about a politically charged robbery and hate crime that he staged against himself.
The sentence also includes 30 months probation and $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago.
“I am not suicidal," he exclaimed in court after sentencing. "If anything happens to me when I go in there, you must all know that."
The former “Empire” actor, who insisted on his innocence throughout the proceedings and after his sentence was read, had potentially faced up to three years in prison for each count, though Judge James Linn said Thursday he did not believe the case as it stood could result in multiple consecutive three-year terms.
Pointing to Smollett’s family history of fighting social injustice, however, Linn said in his sentencing, "The hypocrisy is just astounding."
"The only thing I can find is that you really craved the attention," he added.
Several of Smollett’s friends and family members appeared in court to plead for leniency
Statements supporting Smollett, who on the advice of counsel declined to comment on Thursday, were also read on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, actor Samuel L. Jackson and Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Push Coalition.
At the beginning of Smollett’s sentencing, one of his defense attorneys, Tina Glandian, unsuccessfully argued a motion for a new trial. One of the issues she raised was that the defense should have played a greater role during jury selection.
Linn pushed back on Glandian’s remarks, saying some of the questions for potential jurors submitted by the defense included, “What kind of animal would you like to be?” or “Superman or Batman: what do you prefer”
“There is nothing worse than to be the victim of a hate crime,” Linn said before announcing his sentence. “And I believe that you did damage to real hate crimes, to hate crime victims."
"Your very name has become an adverb for lying."
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