By Omar Jimenez and Travis Caldwell, CNN
Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty Thursday on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for making false reports to police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019.
His defense team said it will appeal the verdict.
Jurors deliberated over the course of two days following a trial that featured Smollett and his accomplices providing strikingly different testimony over what occurred.
Smollett maintained his innocence on the stand and denied the accounts of Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, two acquaintances he knew from the television show. Prosecutors pointed to the brothers’ testimony and evidence that they were paid by Smollett — who is Black and gay — to stage a fake hate crime attack to garner sympathetic media coverage.
Smollett told police after the purported attack near downtown Chicago that he was subject to racist and homophobic slurs by two unknown men, who also poured bleach on him and wrapped a noose around his neck. Authorities investigated the claims and determined the actor orchestrated the scheme, and a grand jury indicted Smollett in February of 2020.
While convicted on five of the six charges, Smollett was acquitted on one count of felony disorderly conduct.
The next phases of the case will address Smollett’s potential punishment as well as his opportunity to appeal.
A disorderly conduct charge for a false crime report is a Class 4 felony and punishable by up to 3...
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