Jussie Smollett, who was convicted last month for lying to police about a racist, homophobic attack that authorities said he staged, will return to court for sentencing March 10.
Cook County Judge James Linn set the sentencing date in Chicago on Thursday for the former “Empire” actor, who told the judge he was in New York, during a hearing on Zoom.
Smollett was found guilty by a jury December 9 of five felony counts of disorderly conduct under a subsection of the law that prohibits making false reports to police.
He was acquitted on a sixth count.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, maintained throughout the nearly three-year legal battle that he was attacked in downtown Chicago in January 2019 by people who yelled racist and anti-gay slurs and put a noose around his neck.
He denied during the trial that he staged the attack.
