Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke out against former Empire star Jussie Smollett after he was sentenced to five months in prison for the 2019 hate crime hoax a jury says he fabricated.
Mayor Lightfoot condemned Jussie, praising Judge James Linn's Thursday (March 10) decision to sentence the actor to 150 days in prison, on top of fines and restitution and probation.
"The city feels vindicated in today's ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions," she said, according to TMZ.
After a nearly six-hour sentencing hearing and four years after the hate crime attack, Jussie was sentenced to 30 months felony probation –– the first 150 days of which will be spent in jail. Jussie also has to pay just over $120,000 in restitution to the city for the hours of investigation detectives put in searching for his alleged attackers.
"The malicious and fabricated claim made by Mr. Smollett resulted in over 1,500 hours of police work that cost the city over $130,000 in police overtime," Lightfoot said.
A jury found Jussie guilty of filing false police reports to authorities in December 2021. Mayor Lightfoot hopes his prison sentence sends a message.
"Maybe this will be a lesson to others," she said, the outlet reported.
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