American star actor, Jussie Smollett has been convicted of faking a racist and homophobic hate crime, and could face up to 24 years imprisonment, oyogist reports.
According to sources, Jussie had staged the crime and concocted a ‘ridiculous story’.
The former Empire TV star showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts on five of the six counts of disorderly conduct were read out in the Chicago courtroom by Judge James Linn.
‘For Mr Smollett to get up and lie for hours and hours, that really compounded his misconduct,’, the special prosecutor, Dan Webb said.
Before the jury foreperson read the verdicts, Judge Linn appealed against court outbursts, adding: ‘I understand how emotional this has been for everybody.’
After they were delivered, he said: ‘You can tell by the tension in the courtroom that so much was at stake.’
Smollett, 39, continued to clasp his hands in front of him as he sat back down, waiting to hear his sentence.
