Actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced last night to 150 days in jail for faking a hate crime three years ago, and there’s plenty of reaction.
Special Prosecutor Dan Webb said Judge James Linn had it right when he agreed with prosecutors that what Jussie Smollett had done in lying to Chicago police about what had happened to him in January 2019 was a serious crime.
"The collateral consequences of what Mr. Smollett did was harm other gays and blacks because his conduct denigrated hate crimes," Webb said. "His conduct will discourage others who are the victims of hate crimes from coming forward."
Smollett’s family was with him to the end, declaring after he was taken away to spend his first night in custody that he was innocent of the charges against him.
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"I saw my brother get locked up within two weeks for being attacked," said the youngest brother Jocqui Smollett. "Do you know how crazy that is? They want to say in that court, they want to say in that court and say that he’s the reasons that folks aren’t going to report hate crimes? Their the reason that folks aren’t going to report hate crimes."
It’s possible Smollett will serve only half of his 150 day sentence with time off for good behavior.
Webb explained a critical factor in Smollett getting a severe sentence was his failure to own up to what he did. The sentence included jail time, having to pay $120,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.
"This defendant, Jussie Smollett, has never shown to the city of Chicago an ounce of contrition," he said. "He’s never once stood up to say, 'I’m sorry.' He’s never once stood up to accept responsibility for his criminal conduct. He has simply denied it, denied it, denied it."
Smollett’s defense attorney Nenye Uche continues to stand by his client and points to the punishment Smollett received in 2019 when reaching a plea deal with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
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"Is it fair what happened today and the answer is absolutely not, Uche said. "This is round two of sentencing. Round One, Jussie paid a $10,000 fine to the city of Chicago and he was made to do community service."
Jussie Smollett’s 92-year old grandmother Molly said in court that if her grandson were sentenced to jail, she wanted to go with him.
"It was a complete frame-up and we have to stop young black men from being abducted into the prison system," she said.