US actor Jussie Smollett, the one-time star of the TV drama Empire, has been found guilty of staging a hate crime against himself in what prosecutors said was a bid to gain sympathy and bolster his career.
The verdict on Thursday came after a one-week trial in which two brothers testified Smollett recruited them to fake an attack on him near his home in downtown Chicago in January 2019.
Prosecutors said Smollett, who is black and openly gay, lied to police when he told them he was accosted on a dark Chicago street by two masked strangers.
Smollett said the men threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressions of support for former president Donald Trump.
Police arrested Smollett a month after the alleged assault, saying that he paid two brothers $US3500 ($4891) to stage the attack in an effort to raise his show-business profile.
He eventually pleaded not guilty to six counts of felony disorderly conduct.
The two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, testified Smollett had paid them to participate in a phoney attack and instructed them how to attack him.
During the trial, the actor took the stand and disputed their accounts.
An emergency room doctor who treated Smollett on the night of the attack told the jury the actor suffered real injuries.
Smollett’s acting career declined after the incident. He lost his role as a singer-songwriter in the final season of Empire, a Fox television hip-hop drama that ended a five-year run in 2020.
His case took an unexpected turn in 2019 when the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped a 16-count indictment against him in exchange for Smollett forfeiting his $14,000 bond without admitting wrongdoing.
The dismissal drew criticism from then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city’s police superintendent, who called the reversal a miscarriage of justice.
In June 2019, a special prosecutor was assigned to examine the case.
After a five-month investigation, the special prosecutor recommended charging Smollett again and a grand jury returned a six-count felony disorderly conduct indictment.
-AAP
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