Jussie Smollett Has Been Indicted On Felony Charges, Lawyers Vow Aggressive Defense Of Empire

After Jussie Smollett was officially named a suspect in his own homophobic, and racist hate crime, he was indicted on Wednesday evening, February 20, 2019. Smollett faces one count of filing a false police report that is a class 4 felony and classified as “disorderly conduct.” Filing a false police report is punishable between 1 and 3 years in prison or probation between 1 and 1/2 years. The Cook County State Attorney made the announcement. Jussie Smollett is innocent until proven guilty, but after a grand jury reviewed evidence in the case, they decided it must go forward.

Jussie Smollett has been the public of intense scrutiny when he said on January 29, 2019, at approximately 2 am, he was attacked after getting a sub and salad at a local Subway in Chicago. His story immediately divided the nation with some believing Jussie was the victim of a racist, homophobic hate crime, while others disbelieved Jussie’s account immediately.

Many people felt there wasn’t enough evidence in his story and that it was full of holes. Jussie Smollett continues to state he is innocent and his lawyer has vowed to give their client an “aggressive” defense.

Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson represent Jussie Smollett and made a public statement regarding their defense of their client.

“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.”

Jussie Smollett's defense attorneys say they plan to mount an aggressive defense, but if the actor is found guilty of the felony charge, legal experts say he could spend time behind bars. https://t.co/IQbCaCWBWo

— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) February 21, 2019

Smollett’s case has taken numerous twists since the attack was reported at the end of January. Over the past several weeks, Smollett has moved from civil rights martyr to being accused of staging a MAGA hate crime. The exact reason why Smollett would have decided to pull off such an act remains under investigation but reports say the two Nigerian brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, who were allegedly involved in the staged attack, are working with authorities.

It has been theorized by unconfirmed sources that Jussie Smollett felt the hate letter he received several weeks before the attack hadn’t received enough press.

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What do you think about the latest updates in the Jussie Smollett case?

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