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Jussie Smollett‘s conviction in an alleged hate crime hoax was overturned on Thursday by the Illinois Supreme Court.
The former “Empire” actor was convicted in December 2021 of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself in 2019 and was sentenced to 150 days in county jail, plus 30 months of probation and $130,000 in restitution.
This came after the original charges against him were dropped in March 2019, but the case was picked back up when the Cook County state’s attorney asked the state to conduct an independent inquiry with a special prosecutor.
In December 2023, a state appellate court rejected his bid for an appeal and it was ruled that he would have to complete his full sentence, six days of which he served before being freed pending appeal.
Earlier this year, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.
-AP
