Jussie Smollett Guilty on 5 of 6 Counts for Staging Fake Hate Crime

A Chicago jury declared Jussie Smollett guilty on Thursday on five felony counts of disorderly conduct related to his false 2019 allegation that he was assaulted by two apparent Republican voters in what was dubbed a hate crime. He was acquitted on a sixth count of disorderly conduct.

The verdict came a week to the day that Bola and Ola Osundairo — the two brothers Smollett hired to stage an assault — took the stand to testify against him. The brothers said Smollett gave them money to buy supplies, including a rope, before “assaulting” him. Smollett later told investigators his assailants shouted that he was in “MAGA country” as they engaged with him, an acronym for former President Donald Trump’s signature slogan, “Make America great again.”

Smollett, for his part, persisted in denying the Osundairo brothers’ claims, calling them “liars” and telling the court this week that their testimony was a “bold-faced lie.”

Police suggested in days subsequent to the attack the 39-year-old hoped the alleged assault would bolster his career, saying he was “dissatisfied with his salary” for his work on the Fox series Empire. The show wrote him out of in its sixth and final season after the incident, with a character explaining his departure by telling viewers “that boy ran off to London.”

Smollett faces up to three years in prison for each count, though his lack of criminal history makes it possible he will only receive probation.

Watch above via Fox News.