Update 2: Jussie Smollett has been found guilty on the first 5 counts and not guilty on the 6th count. He was charged with 6 felony counts of lying to police.
He faces 15 years in prison on the first 5 counts. He could also be sentenced to probation.
Update 1: Jussie Smollett just arrived to a Chicago courthouse to hear the verdict in his hate crime hoax case.
On Wednesday, Judge James Linn told Smollett and his attorneys to be in the courtroom within 30 minutes of the announcement that a verdict has been reached.
That was over an hour ago.
Orginally posted on Dec. 9:
After 2 days of deliberations, the jury has reached a unanimous verdict in the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax trial.
If found guilty, Smollett, 39, could be sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison or probation.
During the trial, a smug Smollett testified there was no hoax and he really was assaulted by a man who had intimate relations with him.
Smollett also exposed his former pal, CNN anchor Don Lemon who told him the Chicago police didn’t believe his story.
Lemon didn’t disclose that to his viewers, but he did say he was in close contact with Smollett in the days before his arrest.
Smollett was charged with six counts of lying to police, saying he was assaulted by two white supremacists. He claimed the white supremacists yelled “This is MAGA country,” tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him.
Nigerian brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola “Abel” OSundairo told police Smollett paid them $3,500 to gently assault him.
Prosecutors say Smollett orchestrated a homophobic, racist attack against himself to raise his profile in the TV and movie industry.
Even before the verdict was reached on Thursday, Smollett was shopping projects around and found financing for a TV project starring himself.
Black Lives Matter expressed support for the openly gay actor. A BLM spokesperson said: “We can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department over Jussie Smollett, a Black man who has been courageously present, visible, and vocal in the struggle for Black freedom.”
Twitter users expressed skepticism.
Who knew that Nigerians were White Supremacists… Thanks BLM for clarifying this in your statement backing up Jussie Smollett over the Chicago Police Department..
— Joshua Flippo (@JFlippo1327) December 9, 2021
Have they caught the white supremacist Trump voters who perpetrated this atrocity yet?
— jwinter (@jwinter300) December 9, 2021
— Kellie W. Meckes (@MecKel) December 9, 2021
