On Thursday, three months after a jury found him guilty of lying to police, Jussie Smollett will appear for his sentencing hearing. A look at what might happen:
, those questions will be answered when Smollett, a onetime star of the television show “Empire,” returns for sentencing to the courtroom where he was found guilty of lying to police about an attack prosecutors contended he orchestrated himself.
Defendants convicted of lying to police, one of the least serious felonies in Illinois, rarely go to prison. But this is a rare case. In doing so, he sparked already raw emotions over issues such as race and sexual identity in the country, and triggered a massive investigation in a city involving dozens of officers in what Smollett has maintained was a very real attack by two men he did not recognize.
“I think this will probably be a point that I make in sentencing,” Webb said, “that not only did Mr. Smollett lie to the police and wreak havoc here in the city for weeks on end for no reason whatsoever, but then he compounded the problem by lying under oath.” McMahon and others also said Webb might call witnesses to testify about the impact that Smollett’s scheme may have had on legitimate victims of racist and homophobic attacks.
And Smollett, who made daily appearances outside the courtroom of supporters who vouched for his character, has already received the support of dozens of people, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the president of the NAACP. Reminding the judge of the actor’s extensive volunteer work and donations to charitable causes, the supporters have sent letters to Linn asking for leniency: probation or community service instead of a prison sentence.
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