Jussie Smollett is scheduled to appear in court on March 14, after he was indicted by a grand jury with 16 felony counts, for giving out false report of a hate crime against him in January.
The specific allegations–“false report of offense”– are Class 4 felonies.
Jussie is liable to be jailed for up to 48 years, 60 years probation and $25, 000 fine if found guilty.
According to the indictment:
“Jussie Smollett knew that at the time … there was no reasonable ground for believing that such offenses had been committed,”
He is facing a maximum sentence of 3 years behind bars,60 years probation, and $25,000 fine.
Smollett, who is black and an open gay person, had revealed to the Chicago police that he got attacked as he was walking home around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29.
He had alleged that two masked men – one of them also wearing a red hat – made racist and homophobic slurs as they attack him, put a noose around his neck, and poured a particular substance on him.
After further investigations, the Chicago Police had claimed that Jussie Smollett in reality paid those two attackers who are Nigerians, Ola and Abel Osundairo, $3,500 by check to stage the attack against him.
