Judge Sentences Jussie Smollett To Cook County Jail Immediately

CHICAGO — A Cook County judge on Thursday denied actor Jussie Smollett's request for a new trial and sentenced the former "Empire" actor to 150 days in Cook County jail on felony convictions for orchestrating a hate crime against himself and lying about it to police.

Smollett also was sentenced 30 months' probation and to pay the city of Chicago more than $120,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.

On the advice of his lawyers, Smollett declined to speak before Cook County Judge James Linn handed down his decision.

The actor spoke after Linn announced that Smollett would be immediately jailed.

“I am not suicidal and I did not do it," he said. In the courtroom, Smollett said that if something happens to him while in Cook County jail, he did not do it to himself.

"Mr. Smollett, I know that there is nothing that I will do here that will come close to the damage that you've already done to your own life. You've turned your life upside down by your misconduct and your shenanigans," Linn said.

Judge Linn offered a long explanation for his ruling, pointing out the extreme hypocrisy that Smollett, a person attuned to social justice issues, would fake a hate crime against himself.

He called Smollett selfish, arrogant, narcissistic and a charlatan, and accused the actor of filing the fake hate crime report to make himself more famous.

"And for a while it worked. The lights were on you. You were actually throwing a national pity party for yourself," Linn said.

The judge said the facts that Smollett planned the hoax by writing a script and committed hours of perjury during his testimony were both considered aggravating factors in his sentencing.

In December, a jury convicted Smollett on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports to police about being the victim of a hate crime that prosecutors said he orchestrated against himself.

During the trial, two brothers testified the actor recruited them to fake the attack near his downtown residence in January 2019.

They said the hoax was Smollett's idea down to the details, including putting a noose around his neck, beating him in front of a surveillance camera and a desire to have video of the fake attack made public on social media.

Smollett denied their version of events, calling the brothers liars and telling jurors "there was no hoax."

On Thursday, Smollett arrived at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse late for his 1 p.m. sentencing hearing, with his 92-year-old grandmother by his side. Smollett's security guards pushed through a media scrum. One of Smollett's escorts shoved a news photographer to the ground, CBS2's David Savini reported.

The hearing started with Smollett's attorneys submitting 83 pages of a post-trial motion that cited 13 "critical errors" they say occurred during the actor's prosecution, in a request for the judge to set aside the jury verdict and order a new trial.

Part of the argument from Smollett's legal team challenged whether the appointment of a special prosecutor was handled properly, saying that Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx didn't properly recuse herself from the case and Judge Michael Toomin improperly approved the move.

Smollett's lawyers also argued that the actor should not face further punishment because he has already been required to perform 15 hours of community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond in exchange for dropping the charges against him before being charged and tried a second time, which they argued is a violation of "double jeopardy" prosecution.

After more than an hour of arguments, Linn denied the request for a new trial.

During the sentencing hearing, special prosecutor Dan Webb asked Linn to sentence Smollett to prison, pay fines and restitution.

Prosecutors read a letter from Chicago police Superintendent David Brown and a city attorney asking the judge to consider that fake hate crime have a "chilling effect" on actual hate crime victims. Prosecutors asked the judge to order Smollett to pay $130,000 in restitution for police department overtime investigating the actor's claim.

Smollett attorney Nenye Uche argued that sentencing the actor to prison and paying retribution would be "overkill" and "retribution" rather than justice.

Smollett's lawyers read letters from supporters and friends, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the NAACP president and actor Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, asking for the judge to show mercy. Joel Smollett, who testified in court, said the case against his younger brother felt like the "reincarnation of Al Capone's trial."

Smollett's 92-year-old grandmother, Molly Smollett, took the stand to ask Linn to issue a merciful sentence.

"I ask you judge not to send him to prison. If you do, send me along with him, OK?" she said.

However, Webb argued that Smollett should serve time in prison for his crimes, accusing the actor of having "marginalized the victims of hate crimes."