Wild scene as Jussie Smollett is sentenced to 150 DAYS in jail and fined $25,000 for faking ‘racist, homophobic’ attack in 2019: Disgraced Empire actor storms out of court and yells ‘I am not suicidal’ and says he’ll blame the judge if he dies behind bars
- Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in jail for five counts of felony four disorderly conduct for lying to police, and will serve half of that
- He must also pay $25,000 in fines – the maximum – and the 150 days are part of his 30 months probation
- After the verdict was read, Smollett stood and yelled that if anything happened to him in jail, it was the responsibility of the judge who sentenced him
- ‘If anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not to it to myself, and you must all know that,’ he yelled, in an astonishing outburst that shocked the court
- Smollett, led out the court, then raised his fist in a black power salute and yelled: ‘I am not suicidal – and I am innocent’
- He faced a maximum of three years in prison on all counts, but had asked the judge for to spare him jail
- Smollett declined to make a statement in his defense during the sentencing hearing
- The actor showed up to court 10 minutes after everyone else, late for the scheduled 1pm start
- His attorneys then spent an hour arguing that the trial was unfair, and claiming the judge chose jurors unfairly to the advantage of the prosecution
- The judge revealed that Smollett’s team asked for 42 of the 57 seats in the courtroom – which would barely have allowed for the jury to be present
- They also claimed he was unfairly prejudiced against by the media and by the Chicago Police Department
- Judge James Linn rejected their motion and said there was ‘nothing unconstitutional’ about the trial
- Smollett’s 92-year-old grandmother Molly gave an impassioned statement slamming media coverage
- Smollett’s older brother Joel fumed at prosecutors for their treatment of the family and also told the court the trial was ‘the reincarnation of Al Capone’s trial’