Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty 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.
At trial this week, Smollett, 39, stood by denials that he staged the hoax attack against himself. Prosecutors countered that he “lied for hours” on the stand as he repeated what he told to Chicago police.
Each count carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. Given Smollett’s lack of previous convictions, experts have said a lighter sentence or probation is likely. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.
The jury of six men and six women reached its decision one day after deliberations began.
Smollett, who is black and gay, told police he was set upon by two assailants who shouted slurs, yelled a Trump slogan, dumped a “chemical substance” on him and tied a noose around his neck while he was walking late at night in Chicago.
Authorities opened an investigation into the attack, but in February of that year, police charged Smollett with filing a false police report, alleging he had staged the assault.
Smollett was found guilty of five of the six charges, meaning that the last one had not been proven in court.
Source: CNN, Ghana Report
