Jussie Smollett Indicted on 16 Felony Charges Following Alleged Attack
Mar. 8 2019, Published 9:28 p.m. ET
Empire Star Jussie Smollett was just indicted on 16 felony counts by a grand jury, according to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office confirmed that Smollett, 36, who was originally charged with one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, now has 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for the same offense.
The grand jury was said to have returned two sets of charges on Thursday. The first set was in relation to the information he provided officers on the night of the attack, which was also the initial story that broke the news.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the horrid details included alleged police reports that the attackers screamed racial and homophobic slurs at him, “poured an unknown chemical substance” on him, and in a horrific move, “one of the offenders wrapped a rope around the victim’s neck.”
The second set of charges was based on the second interview he had when he met with cops again later that day.
With the new charges against him, Smollett faces a possible anywhere from probation to four years.
It is believed he will take a plea deal to prevent from spending jail time.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Smollett was hospitalized on January 29th after being attacked in a Chicago alley at 2AM in what was believed to be a hate crime.
An investigation of the attack backfired when RadarOnline.com exclusively reported the cops identified several “persons of interest.”
The men were later identified as brothers Olabinjo “Ola” and Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo, one of whom worked on the set of Empire as an extra.
Smollett was arrested for filing a false police report. He is accused of paying the brothers $3,500 to stage the violence as he was dissatisfied with his salary on Empire. The charge is now claimed to have been for physical training.
He pled not guilty for the charge and was released on a $100,000 bond.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Smollett’s character has also been axed from the final two episodes of Empire’s next season.
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