Actor Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of five of the six charges against him related to an alleged racist and homophobic attack. On Thursday (Dec. 9) Smollett was convicted of five counts of felony disorderly conduct for making false reports to police. According to CNN, the jury deliberated for two days before reaching a decision.
His attorney Nenye Uche “respectfully disagrees” and plans to appeal the verdict.
“He (Smollett) is 100% confident that this will be reversed on appeal,” Uche said. “At the end of the day, we believe justice will prevail. We don’t believe it was done today but we’re very confident that he will be cleared and he will be found to be innocent.”
During the trial, Smollett maintained his innocence. During his testimony, he claimed he and one of his alleged attackers Abel Osundairo had an intimate relationship and explained he paid Osundairo and his brother Ola for physical training and meal plans.
“There was no hoax,” testified Smollett . “Not one iota of information has changed.”
In his own testimony, Abel denied the claims.
The 39-year-old faces up to 3 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The City of Chicago said in a statement that legal action against Smollett will continue. A lawsuit was initially filed in April 2019 when he failed to pay a request of $130,106.15 for the police investigation of his report of a hate crime attack. Smollett filed a countersuit in November 2020.