ACTOR Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months of probation for staging a hate crime against himself.
The actor faced a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.
The ruling was handed down to the erstwhile Empire star, 39, by Judge James B. Linn at Chicago's George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Thursday.
The judge did not hold back when sentencing the actor, whom he called “profoundly arrogant,“ “selfish,“ and a “narcissistic,“ at the end of a wild hearing that took almost six hours.
Smollett will serve a total five months in the Cook County Jail, not prison, which is typical for shorter sentences. He was also sentenced to 30 months' felony probation, ordered to pay US$120,106 (RM502,936) of restitution to the city of Chicago and pay a US$25,000 (RM104,686) fine.
In December, the entertainer was convicted for repeatedly reporting to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime.
Prosecutors say Smollett staged the January 2019 incident to garner sympathy and help his acting career.
“You wanted to make yourself more famous, and for a while it worked,“ the judge continued, calling out Smollett for throwing a “national pity party for yourself.”
Smollett was not expected to serve time behind bars. Legal experts pointed to the fact that he does not have any prior felony convictions, and his conviction here is for a low-level, nonviolent crime. Also, no one was injured by his crime.
However, the judge pointed to “ample factors” that made prison time reasonable, including Smollett’s “premeditation” for the crime, the pain he caused “real victims of hate crimes,“ the damage to the city of Chicago and Smollett’s “performance on the witness stand” in December as he said the actor committed “perjury.”
Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed he was the victim of a hate crime when two men wearing ski masks poured bleach on him, put a noose around his neck and yelled racist and homophobic slurs on a freezing Chicago night.
He claimed he had been walking home, on Jan 29, 2019 at about 2am, after getting food at a Subway.
The police investigation led to two brothers, Abimbola (”Bola”) and Olabinjo (”Ola”) Osundairo, who were acquaintances of the actor. They testified at the December trial that Smollett paid them US$3,500 (RM14,656) in part to stage the attack.
Separately, the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Smollett in 2019 after he refused to pay back the US$130,106.15 (RM544,841) for the police investigation. Smollett filed a countersuit.
The city of Chicago vowed to pursue the lawsuit after Smollett's conviction.
Smollett's defense attorneys have stated they intend to fight the verdict in appellate court.
