Jussie Smollett, a Black and gay actor has been sentenced to 150 days in jail.
Gatekeepers News reports that Cook County Judge James Linn who sentenced Smollett to jail on Thursday, branded the actor as a narcissistic charlatan for staging a hate crime against himself to grab the limelight while the nation struggled with wrenching issues of racial injustice.
Smollett in his response defiantly maintained his innocence and suggested he could be killed in jail.
His sentence and post-hearing outburst capped an hours-long hearing and more than three years of legal drama after Smollett’s claim that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack.
After his sentencing, Smollett removed the face mask he wore throughout the hearing to proclaim himself innocent.
The Gay actor said, “If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community. Your Honor, I respect you and I respect the jury but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.”
As Deputies led him from the courtroom, Smollett shouted out again, “I am innocent,” raising his fist. “I could have said I am guilty a long time ago.”
Judge Linn sentenced Smollett to 30 months of felony probation, with 150 days served in Cook County Jail, and ordered that the actor pay $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine.
Special prosecutor Dan Webb asked Linn to include “an appropriate amount of prison time” when sentencing the actor for his conviction on five counts of disorderly conduct.”
After the hearing, Webb said, “His conduct denigrated hate crimes. His conduct will discourage others who are victims of hate crimes from coming forward and reporting those crimes to law enforcement.”
Family members echoed those comments: “I ask you, judge, not to send him to prison,” his grandmother, 92-year-old Molly Smollett, told the court. She later added, “If you do, send me along with him, OK?”
Smollett’s attorneys, while arguing that he had already been punished by the criminal justice system and damaged his career, wanted the judge to limit the sentence to community service.
