Looks like the Jussie Smollet saga might be coming to an end after 3 years. The judge in his case sentenced him to 150 days in jail and 30 months felony probation for lying about his 2019 attack.
According to CBS News Judge James Linn called him “a charlatan pretending to be a victim of a hate crime,”. And said he will be required to spend the first 150 days in jail, beginning immediately.
He also ordered Smollett to pay $120,106 in restitution to the city and fined him $25,000.
After announcing the sentence, Linn asked Smollett if he had any questions, to which Smollett said, “No, I would just like to say to your honor that I am not suicidal. That’s what I would like to say.”
“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 LGBT community,” Smollett said.
“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. I respect you, your honor, I respect your decision.”
“Jail time?” he added, with a shake of his head and a clap of his hands, “I am not suicidal.”
Earlier, Linn said, while the Class 4 felonies Smollett was convicted of often result in a sentence of probation only, the judge said there were multiple aggravating factors in the case, including his own testimony at trial, which he called “pure perjury.”
“You committed hour upon hour upon hour of pure perjury,” Linn said.
In determining Smollett’s sentence, Linn cited the “overwhelming evidence of guilt” against him.
“Mr. Smollett, that’s what you were all about here – a crime of premeditation. You woke up in the morning thinking you were going to do something bad and something wrong,” he said.
Before announcing sentence, Linn acknowledged that Smollett has already suffered damage from being charged and brought to trial, but had harsh words for the defendant, who he accused of “throwing a national pity party for yourself.”
“I know that there is nothing that I will do here that will come close to the damage that you’ve already done to your own life. You’ve turned your life upside-down by your misconduct and shenanigans. You destroyed your life as you knew it,” Linn said just before handing down the sentence.
However, he said it was “astonishing” to hear the defense talk repeatedly about his charitable work after he stood convicted of orchestrating a hoax and lying to the police.
“The hypocrisy, it is just astounding,” he said.
Calling Smollett “profoundly arrogant and arrogant and narcissistic,” Linn said he believed Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime for himself simply to get more public attention.
“You really craved the attention,” he said. “Why would you betray something like social justice issues that you care so much about?”
“You’re just a charlatan pretending to be a victim of a hate crime,” Linn added.
Watch below
?BREAKING: Jussie Smollett SCREAMS in rage at sentencing Judge as he’s handcuffed and sent to JAIL for FAKING a hate crime pic.twitter.com/BkQjtuyf5l
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 11, 2022
and
Jussie Smollett after the sentencing: “I am not suicidal. If anything happens to me when I go in there, you must all know that.” pic.twitter.com/xe2wYpQJ4O
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 11, 2022
and
Jussie Smollett throws up the black power fist while screaming he isn’t suicidal as he is taken into custody. pic.twitter.com/EtTwQxTMRQ
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 11, 2022
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