On Friday, an Illinois appellate court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions of Jussie Smollett. The actor and musician had been accused of setting up a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019.
The ruling will now result in Smollett returning to jail.
Smollett had told police that he had been attacked in a racist and homophobic. He disclosed that the incident was caused by two men who had been wearing ski masks. Authorities searched for the attackers. Soon, they found that Smollett needed to be investigated because his story wasn’t adding up. He was then apprehended on charges that he planned the attack.
A month after being charged by prosecutors, all charges against Smollett were dropped, citing that he had forfeited his $10,000 bond and had performed community service.
But, the next month, Smollett was charged again for disorderly conduct for orchestrating the attack with brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo.
In court, the brothers had said that Smollett had given them money to assist with the attack.
In 2021, Smollett was found guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct. In Illinois, this charge can be filed if a person lies to police. Smollett was then given a 150-day jail sentence. He was in jail for six days prior to him being released in order to await his appeal.
Smollett’s lawyers had argued that the new charges are double jeopardy because the charges were dismissed and that there was an agreement between Smollett and the prosecutors that no other charges would be filed.
However, on Friday, a panel of judges ruled 2-1 that although Cook County, Illinois, prosecutors had dismissed the first felony charges, they never stated that no other charges would be filed.
