Actor Jussie Smollett was today found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct. Smollett paid two associates to publicly assault him in a bizarre ploy for attention, but the scheme went awry after the attack's supposedly racist and homophobic dimensions brought overwhelming media and law enforcement scrunity. Smollett was acquitted on another count. The Chicago Sun-Times: "Smollett's crime was not the hoax itself, but lying that the attack was real to police, with a count for each time he told investigators he had been a victim."
Smollett is unlikely to face as stiff a sentence as public sentiment has already dealt him —the actor was fired from his hit television show and his budding music career stalled and died. Taking the stand for eight hours spanning two days of the trial this week, Smollett admitted he had not received any new offers for work since he was initially charged.
"I've lost my livelihood," he testified dryly. The charges are low-level felonies that carry a possible sentence of three years but would likely result in a sentence of probation for the fallen star.
