Empire star Jussie Smollett is facing criminal charges for filing a false police report in the attack he said happened to him back in January.
“Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest,” tweeted Anthony Guglielmi, Chief Communications Officer for the Chicago Police Department.
This comes on the heels of the two supposed suspects, brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo, having been questioned and released. That’s pretty much when the police stopped looking at Smollett as a victim and began seeing him as a co-conspirator.
The brothers reportedly claimed to have been paid by the actor to stage the attack. TMZ reports that they “were caught on camera buying a bunch of supplies before the incident … including ski masks, gloves, bandanas, sunglasses and red hats.”
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About three hours earlier, Guglielmi released information that Smollett was now being officially classified as a suspect and that, “Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury.”
Up until that point, police had been classifying the actor as a victim, despite rumors that the direction of the investigation had changed.
Smollett originally claimed that he was attacked by two men in MAGA hats on January 29, who made racial and homophobic slurs, and had put a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him.
If he is found guilty, he could end up serving up to three years in prison according to TMZ.
Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest. pic.twitter.com/LvBSYE2kVj
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019
Case Update: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony). Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. pic.twitter.com/FhDcbBKsuU
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 20, 2019
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