Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty on Thursday of lying to police about an alleged attack he faced in 2019. Smollett, who claimed the attack was real, was convicted of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct, according to CBS News.
The verdict is the culmination of nearly two years of controversy surrounding the actor since January 2019. The jury of six men and six women had deliberated for approximately nine hours.
Smollett claimed two men beat him, yelled "racist and homophobic slurs," dumped an "unknown chemical substance" on him and put a noose around his neck while he was walking to Walgreens late at night in Chicago.
Police and prosecutors, however, alleged that Smollett paid two brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo, $3,500 to help him stage the attack. Both brothers testified during the trial that Smollett asked them to carry out a fake attack.
Smollett repeatedly denied staging the attack, telling jurors, "There was no hoax."
During closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutors said they proved Smollett faked the attack with "overwhelming evidence," CBS Chicago reported. Prosecutor Dan Webb also told jurors it was "just plain wrong" for Smollett to fake a hate crime.
Smollett's attorneys again denied the allegations, arguing that the prosecution's case "is built like a house of cards," CBS Chicago reported.
Each count of disorderly conduct carries a sentence of up to three years, though legal experts told CBS that it's more likely Smollett will be sentenced to probation if he's convicted.