After a long journey with this case, Jussie Smollett has finally been sentenced.

Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in jail in connection to a staged hate crime that occurred in Chicago in January 2019.
Cook County Judge James Linn also sentenced Smollett to 30 months of felony probation.

Smollett will begin his sentence immediately and was also ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and was fined $25,000.

Despite his conviction, Jussie claims innocence. “I did not do this,” Smollett said after the sentence was handed down, tugging at his suit coat. “... I am innocent.”

Smollett was convicted of lying to police about the staged attack, where he hired two brothers to fake an attack on him near his apartment.

The actor, who is both Black and gay, added “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.”

“And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that,” repeating that he was not suicidal.