Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail for attack hoax

Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days of jail time and 30 months probation for staging a fake hate crime on Thursday.

Back in December, the Empire star was found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack he staged on himself in Chicago in January 2019.

Smollett faced up to three years in prison for each charge, but did not receive maximum sentencing on Thursday due to his lack of previous criminal record.

Along with the jail time, Smollett must pay $120,106 (£92,000) in restitution and a $25,000 (£19,000) fine.

When the sentence was handed down, Smollett repeatedly said that he was "not suicidal" and "was innocent". Video footage from the hearing also shows him telling the judge, "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, you must all know that."

Special prosecutor Dan Webb recommended prison time, accusing Smollett of "knowingly" denigrating "true hate crimes" and refusing to show "a single act of contrition".

Defence lawyer Nenye Uche called Webb's recommendations "overkill, beating a dead horse" and described them as "retribution" instead of justice.

Before the hearing, Rev. Jesse L Jackson Sr., members of Smollett's family and circle, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles Dr. Melina Abdullah, and actors Alfre Woodard and Samuel L. Jackson sent letters to Judge James Linn asking for "mercy" and warning of the risks to a "well-known, nonviolent, Black, gay man with Jewish heritage" in prison.

"I do believe that at the end of the day, Mr. Smollett received a fair trial," Judge Linn said.

The 39-year-old's legal team plan to appeal the sentence.