Retired officer says Jussie Smollett needs to pay back police for wasted resources
Former Tuscon Police Officer and author Brandon Tatum reacts to Chicago suing Smollett for wasted police resources and Biden’s CBP pick Chris Magnus being confirmed by the Senate.
Jussie Smollett will be sentenced on March 10 after he was convicted of five of six counts in his hate crime hoax case, Fox News Digital can confirm.
There will also be a status hearing on Thursday, Jan 27.
In December, a jury found Smollett guilty on the first five counts, and he was acquitted on a sixth count of lying to a detective weeks after he said he was attacked.
The 39-year-old former "Empire" actor was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct related to false statements to Chicago police officers about a 2019 hate crime against him. In 2019, he claimed that two men attacked him due to his skin color and sexual orientation.
Jussie Smollett will face sentencing for his hate crime hoax on March 10. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)
He was found guilty of telling a police officer he was a hate crime victim, telling an officer he was a battery victim, telling a detective he was a hate crime victim, telling a detective he was a battery victim and then telling a detective again he was battery victim. He was not found guilty on a sixth charge of telling a second detective he was an aggravated battery victim.
The actor's conviction was announced in early Dec. 2021.
The ordeal began in early 2019, when Smollett reported that he had been attacked by two men that used racial and homophobic slurs against him.
Smollett was found guilty on five out of six counts of lying to police about the ordeal after he reported that he was the victim of a hate crime in Chicago in early 2019. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Police began to suspect the legitimacy of the report and Smollett was eventually charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
In March 2019, the charges against Smollett were dropped and he was asked to reimburse the city of Chicago for its pricey investigation into the matter.
A special investigator was again assigned to the matter to investigate why the charges were dropped, and Smollett was hit with the new charges in early 2020 and pleaded not guilty.
Smollette will also face a status hearing on Thursday, Jan 27. (AP Photo/Matt Marton, file)
Smollett's attorneys have expressed their intention to appeal the verdict, and have said they're "confident" they will be met with success.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The renewed investigation found internal trouble as well, as Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was accused of lying about whether she was in contact with Smollett's sister and of violating legal ethics, according to the investigator's report, which was made public at the special prosecutor's suggestion.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Fox News Digital has reached out to Smollett's attorney for comment.
Fox News' Matt Finn and Julius Young contributed to this report
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.