A Cook County Grand Jury returned a 16-count indictment against Jussie Smollett, according to court records.
According to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the indictment was returned by the grand jury on Thursday, reported ABC 7 Chicago.
Jussie Smollett was originally hit with one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report on February 20th.
According to court records, the grand jury returned two separate sets of charges — one related to what Jussie Smollett told police officers about the fake attack, including his claims he was attacked by two white males screaming homophobic and racial slurs at him while they poured bleach on him and put a noose around his neck.
The other charges are related to a subsequent interview Jussie Smollett had with police.
The new charges each carry a possibility of probation for up to four years.
Now this…
The Daily Mail is reporting that Jussie Smollett is facing up to 48 years behind bars and fines of up to $400,000 after a grand jury returned a 16-count felony indictment.
Jussie Smollett has been hit with an additional 15 counts of filing a false police report by a grand jury and is now facing up to 48 years behind bars.
The Empire actor was initially charged with one Class 4 Felony charge of disorderly conduct last month but a grand jury has applied that charge 15 times over in an 36-page indictment that was returned on Thursday.
Now, he is facing a maximum sentence of 48 years behind bars and fines of up to $400,000.
It is highly unlikely Jussie Smollett will serve time in prison; experts say he will likely strike a plea deal and skate.
Smollett was previously taken into custody but posted a $100,000 bond on the same day.
After a few weeks of Jussie Smollett and the media pushing the “MAGA country” hate hoax, the truth began to bubble up and revealed that Jussie Smollett paid two Nigerian brothers $3,500 to carry out the hoax — Smollett was reportedly unhappy with his ‘Empire’ salary.
Smollett is also behind the ‘threatening letter’ that was sent to the ‘Empire’ studio in Chicago.
The letter is still with the FBI at a crime lab for analysis — Smollett could face federal charges for lying to the feds about that fake letter.
Despite all of this evidence, Jussie Smollett maintains he’s innocent of the charges.
Jussie Smollett will return to court on March 14th where he will face the charges.
Local Chicago crime investigators CWB Chicago broke the exclusive story that a Cook County grand jury returned a 16-count indictment against Jussie Smollett.
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Grand jury returns 16 felony counts against @jussiesmollett in #Chicago hate crime hoax. #JussieSmollett
OUR REPORT: https://t.co/3PXdlVAlXS pic.twitter.com/51VSBEjzoC
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) March 8, 2019
