American actor Jussie Smollet has finally been sentenced to spend 150 days in jail, followed by probation, over a staged hate crime case.
He was convicted for five felony counts back in 2021, as he continuously lied to police regarding the event.
Fake Racial Crime Case Reached Its Conclusion
Back in January 2019, Smollet, who is black and gay, reported he was the victim of a hate crime, as he raised alarms regarding racist and homophobic attacks.
During the investigation, he stuck to his narrative, although the police found the attack was staged by the actor to gain public attention. This forged attack helped Smollett make headlines, as he rose to unprecedented prominence after the attack.
Once Judge James Linn handed him the sentence, Smollett noted, “I am innocent, I didn’t do it.” However, the judge dismissed the plea, calling it “hypocrisy” of astounding nature.
While Linn acknowledged the actor had some good qualities, he stated Smollett acted with the “narcissistic” and “profoundly selfish” side of his personality.
Judge James Linn called Smollett a “charlatan,” and said the crime had exposed a side of his personality that is “profoundly arrogant and selfish and narcissistic.” https://t.co/N5zJdTGurX
— Variety (@Variety) March 11, 2022
Smollett inflicted harm to real racial justice criminal cases
When Smollett’s lies were caught, it was widely perceived he inflicted damage to the racial justice causes. Many proponents of social justice thought these types of events undermine the severity of racial justice crimes.
Thus, the judge spoke along the same lines while issuing his verdict. He stated Smollett did “real damage” to hate crimes, adding victims of the crimes would now be hesitant in coming forward and registering their protests.
Prosecutors requested the judge to impose a penalty of “appropriate amount” of jail time to the actor.
This was due to the fact the case cost the police department of the city big money; so the department wanted the actor to compensate the cost of overtime work being done by the officers during the investigations.
Apart from Smollett’s lawyers, his grandmother also came forward to request the court not to send him to jail.
His lawyer noted the actor already lost a year of his acting career, so he must not be given prison time now.
Likewise, his 92-year-old grandmother stated he knows Smollett as a “justice warrior,” so if the court wants to send him to jail, she would be willing to go alongside him.
Watch: Jussie Smollett stands up and yells at the courtroom after being sentenced by Cook County Judge James Linn over his 2019 hate crime hoax: pic.twitter.com/fFei0JrFjN
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 11, 2022
At the time of the phony attack, Jussie Smollett emphasized two men attacked him on the street, tied a rope around his neck, beat him, and dropped a chemical on him.
Once Chicago police started investigating the incident, it was found the actor fabricated the story.
Eddie Johnson, Chicago Police Superintendent, noted the actor did this to get noticed so he could get a boost in his acting career. For the whole episode, he paid $3,500 to attackers, Johnson added.
