Jussie Smollett Charged With Disorderly Conduct After Filing Alleged False Police Report
Feb. 21 2019, Updated 9:54 a.m. ET
Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly staging a fake 'race hate' attack in Chicago, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Smollett, 36, was charged with the felony disorderly conduct charge on Wednesday, Feb. 20. The development comes after Smollett claimed he was verbally and physically assaulted in Chicago on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
According to officials with the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, the charge is a Class 4 felony and carries a possible sentence of one to three years in jail and/or probation.
“Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report," Chicago PD wrote on Twitter. "Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest.”
Smollett is expected to appear in bond court Thursday, a PIO from the Cook County State Attorney’s office told RadarOnline.com.
Chicago police on Wednesday had officially classified Smollett as a suspect in a criminal investigation for allegedly filing a false police report.
The actor told police the brothers yelled racial and homophobic slurs before allegedly battering him placing a rope around the actor's neck.
Smollett also claimed to detectives the brothers "poured an unknown chemical substance" on him.
The television star broke down in tears when discussing the incident on Good Morning America. He insisted he was a victim of a race and hate crime.
The Osundairo brothers were initially arrested and then released by police. They claimed to detectives that they were in fact hired by Smollett to carry out the attack and reportedly paid.
Both brothers worked on the set of Empire. It was reported that one brother turned over his cell phone to police showing a phone call between he and Smollett in the vicinity of the attack before it happened.
Smollett's legal team released a statement after the news broke. “Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense."
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