A judge in Chicago sentenced Jussie Smollett tofive monthsin jail on Thursday, ordering that the actor be incarcerated for falsely reporting to the police that he had been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in 2019.
Judge James B. Linn excoriated Mr. Smollett from the bench, saying he had concluded that the actor had premeditated the hoax and that, despite his and his family’s admirable past work in social justice, he had an arrogant, selfish side because he “craved the attention.”
The judge said he was particularly upset that Mr. Smollett’s conduct had hurt other victims of hate crimes at a sensitive time, when America was trying to climb out of a painful past of racism.
“There are people that are actual, genuine victims of hate crimes that you did damage to,” the judge said.
Given the chance to address the court before the sentencing, Mr. Smollett declined, but after Judge Linn read his sentence, the actor defiantly stood up and declared, “I am not suicidal. I am innocent.” As he was taken into custody to begin his jail sentence, he raised his right fist.
Some experts had thought it was possible that Mr. Smollett could avoid incarceration because the offense is a low-level felony and it is common for defendants convicted of similar crimes to receive probation or community service.
But critics had condemned Mr. Smollett, saying his account had damaged the victims of hate crimes who they said might have their credibility challenged because of the Smollett case.
Understand the Jussie Smollett Case
The actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty in December of falsely reporting that he had been the victim of a racist and homophobic assault in 2019.
- Timeline: The case began with the actor’s police report and led to a trial in which he was accused of staging the attack himself.
- Smollett’s Testimony: Mr. Smollett was self-deprecating and animated as he sought to convince a Chicago jury he was the victim of a real attack.
- What the Evidence Shows: Explore some of the documents and security camera footage related to the case.
- His Sentence: The actor was sentenced to five months in jail on March 10. His supporters had made impassioned pleas for leniency ahead of the sentencing hearing.
Following the trial last year, during which Mr. Smollett declared his innocence repeatedly during seven hours oftestimony over two days, Daniel K. Webb, the special prosecutor who handled the case, said he thought the actor had made matters worse for himself by standing by his account of the attack.
Mr. Smollett was found guilty of felony disorderly conduct, which had carried a sentence of up to three years in prison. But the judge gave him a shorter sentence to be served in jail and also gave him a term of more than two years of probation, as well as ordering him to pay a fine of $25,000 and more than $120,000 of restitution.
Before the sentencing hearing, which lasted more than four hours, well-known figures like the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, the actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson; and Derrick Johnson, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., wrote letters to the judge asking him to forgo prison time. Supporters argued that Mr. Smollett had no previous felonies on his record and had already suffered reputational damage after the police accused him of orchestrating a hoax assault for attention.
On Thursday, Mr. Webb recommended to the judge that Mr. Smollett go to prison for an unspecified amount of time, arguing that his misconduct was serious, that he lied to the jury and that he has shown no contrition.
“What Smollett did in this case is he denigrated, degraded true hate crimes and he marginalized the people who are true victims of hate crimes,” Mr. Webb told the judge.
The sentencing caps more than three years of twists and turns in a case that inflamed political divisions and stirred up controversy among Chicago officials. For days, Mr. Smollett was viewed as a victim, someone who had been beaten and had been targeted with racial and homophobic slurs. Even after the authorities challenged his version of events, it seemed as though Mr. Smollett would avoid any significant criminal punishment. Prosecutors dropped the charges against him in March 2019. But in 2020, Mr. Smollett was indicted again after Mr. Webb revived the investigation into what happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019.
During last year’s trial, the prosecution told the jury that Mr. Smollett had instructed two brothers, Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo, to attack him near his apartment in Chicago, where they placed a rope around his neck like a noose and yelled, “This is MAGA country.”
The Osundairos each testified at length, explaining how Mr. Smollett took them through a “dry run” of the attack and asked one of them to “fake beat him up.”
Mr. Smollett, 39, who in 2019 was best known for starring in the music-industry drama “Empire,” maintained his innocence during seven hours of testimony over two days, telling the jury that he had been the victim of a real hate crime. His lawyers argued in court that the Osundairo brothers relished their proximity to fame and wanted to scare Mr. Smollett enough to get him to hire them as his security detail.
They also highlighted homophobic comments by Olabinjo Osundairo, suggesting that the attack could have been motivated by bias against Mr. Smollett, who is gay. (On the stand, Mr. Osundairo repeatedly denied being homophobic.)
The evidence presented by the prosecution included video surveillance of the men meeting up for what the brothers said was the “dry run” and Instagram messages from Mr. Smollett to Abimbola Osundairo shortly before the attack in which the actor provided updates on the timing of his flight back to Chicago.
The defense disputed that Mr. Smollett planned the attack, arguing that both the messages and the footage were evidence that he had been interacting with Abimbola Osundairo because he had been providing the actor with fitness training.
The 12-person jury found Mr. Smollett guilty of five out of six counts of felony disorderly conduct related to his police report.
Judge Linn announced his decision after denying the defense’s bid to have the conviction thrown out or for the actor to gain a new trial.
