Jussie Smollett spent his first night behind bars after a judge sentenced him to five months for faking a racist and homophobic attack.
Thursday’s sentencing hearing ended dramatically as the former “Empire” actor stood up at the defense table as his lawyers and sheriff’s deputies surrounded him and defiantly maintained his innocence.
The 39-year-old was expressionless and his family and others in the courtroom appeared stunned as Cook County Judge James Linn handed down sentencing.
“You will spend the first 150 days of your sentence in the Cook County Jail, and that will start today. Right here, right now,” Linn said.
In considering the sentence, Linn said Smollett’s “extreme” premeditation of the crime was an aggravating factor. He also said the actor had denigrated the experiences of real hate crime victims, calling him a “charlatan” and a liar.
“You got on the witness stand. You didn’t have to. You did. You certainly had a right to. But you committed hour upon hour upon hour of perjury,” Linn said.
While in jail, Smollett also begins 30 months of probation in addition to being ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine.
The disgraced actor then addressed the court.
“I am not suicidal,” Smollett said. “I am not suicidal. I am innocent. And I am not suicidal. If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for 400 years and the fears of the LGBTQ community. Your honor, I respect you, and I respect the jury, but I did not do this, and I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself! And you must all know that!”
