Just this past Thursday, the court handed former Empire actor Jussie Smollett a sentence of 150 days in an Illinois prison as a result of him lying to police about a fake hate crime he staged against himself.
Smollett is also responsible for paying the city of Chicago $120, 106 to cover the cost of the police investigation on his false report. The actor was fined an additional $25,000 and a 30-month-long probation.
Smollett’s reaction to the sentence showed him lowering his face mask and continuing to assert his innocence. “Your Honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this,” stated Smollett to Judge James Linn.
It was then that the actor directed his attention to the court and made a statement. “And I am not suicidal,” he said. “And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.” Once again, before Smollett was taken into custody by police, he proclaimed his innocence while thrusting his fist into the air.
Wild moment: After getting sentenced to 150 days in jail, Jussie Smollett maintains his innocence and repeats how he is not suicidal.
“I am not suicidal. I am innocent and I am not suicidal … if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself.” pic.twitter.com/AnDsLcINKL
— The Recount (@therecount) March 11, 2022
Judge James Linn then slammed Smollett because of his lying statement:
“
You’re just a charlatan, pretending to be a victim of a hate crime. Your very name has become an adverb for ‘lying.’”
“Your performance on the witness stand can only be described as pure perjury,” the judge added. “You are now a permanently convicted felon.”
“There is nothing that I can do here today that will come close to the damage you’ve already done to your own life,” Judge Linn said before delivering the sentencing. “You turned your life upside down by your misconduct and shenanigans.“
Watch it here: CBS Chicago/Youtube
Judge Linn was sure to explicitly address the damage Smollett dealt to victims of real hate crimes, noting the overwhelming sense of hypocrisy of his actions given that the actor has expressed a lifelong commitment to social justice.
“I believe that you did damage to real hate crime victims.”
“The officer asked you a simple question. And then you start to lie and haven’t stopped lying since. You’ve been lying and lying and lying about this case, and that’s why you’re here today.”
The Judge added:
“This can only be described as pure perjury,” when Smollett got on the witness stand and “committed hour upon hour upon hour of pure perjury.”
Smollett was seen arriving late to his sentencing, at one point one of his bodyguards knocked down a photographer.
Jussie Smollett’s bodyguards throw a reporter to the ground as Smollett approaches the courthouse for his sentencing. pic.twitter.com/HmmwzZSfSN
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 10, 2022
The judge also placed great emphasis on the premeditated nature of Smollett’s false hate crime as a strong factor in his sentencing decision. Linn noted that this hoax was not an impulsive decision nor a momentary lapse in judgment on Smollett’s part.
Back in January 2019, Smollett had explained to police that he was beaten by two male MAGA supporters who yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him during the scenario. However, a few days later those same men notified police that Smollett had paid them to pretend to attack him.
To the surprise of Smollett’s defense team, the actor’s prison sentence began immediately after the court hearing despite their requests to the judge to delay the sentence, which were obviously denied by Linn.
Source: Breitbart
