Jussie Smollett jailed for faking hate crime

{O/C} To Chicago, where a judge sentenced Black and gay actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced to five months in jail for faking a hate crime.

While the judge announced the sentence, he declared himself neither narcissistic nor suicidal.

{SOT}

{Soundbite} JAMES B. LINN, Cook County Judge: You will spend the first 150 days of your sentence in the Cook County Jail.

In a scathing speech, the judge excoriated Smollett, saying creating the hoax out of whole cloth just in order to catapult himself into the limelight is utterly a shame.

{Soundbite} Somehow you strayed away from your family values, you let that dark, narcissistic, selfish and arrogant side come out, and you persisted with it.

After the judge read out his sentence, the actor suddenly rose from his seat, reiterating that he's both innocent and non-suicidal.

{Soundbite} JUSSIE SMOLLETT, Actor: I'm not suicidal. OK? 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 over 400 years and the fears of the LGBTQ community. Your honour, 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.

He then chanted those words again as he was taken away.

Regardless, the judge sentenced Smollett to 30 months of felony probation, the first 150 days of which will be spent being incarcerated in the Cook County jail. In addition, he was ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution to Chicago as well as a maximum fine of $25,000.

Outside the courtroom, several supporters spoke about their worries that Smollett would be at risk in jail, especially owing to his race, sexual orientation and his family's multiracial background.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb accused the actor of making up the contrived case that clearly relegated true victims of hate crimes.

Smollett was found guilty of faking a racist and homophobic assault in 2019, which was highly suspect.

The 39-year-old was renowned for starring in the music-industry drama entitled "Empire".

Those who pleaded for leniency portrayed him as benevolent.

Yet this time, he's gone way too far.