Jussie Smollett starts 150-day jail term in protected status
By Don Babwin and Kathleen Foody

Linked Press
CHICAGO — Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a dislike criminal offense towards himself in protecting custody, divided from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities claimed Friday.
Sheriff’s deputies straight away took Smollett to the Cook County Jail on Thursday night just after Judge James Linn sentenced the Black and gay actor to 30 months of felony probation — starting up with a five-month phrase in jail — for lying to police that he had been the concentrate on of a racist and homophobic assault.
Actor Jussie Smollett speaks to Judge James Linn after his sentence is study at the Leighton Felony Courtroom Creating, Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Chicago. Smollett preserved his innocence throughout his sentencing hearing Thursday just after a judge sentenced the previous “Empire” actor to 150 days in jail for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack that he orchestrated himself. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune by way of AP, Pool)
Smollett loudly managed his innocence and proposed he could be killed in jail.
“Your honor, I regard you and I regard the jury, but I did not do this,” Smollett claimed Thursday. “And I am not suicidal. And if anything at all transpires to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself.”
Smollett’s sentence could set an stop — pending appeals — to additional than a few several years of authorized drama following the actor’s report to police that two guys donning ski masks conquer him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dim Chicago avenue and ran off.
Smollett’s lawyers claimed Thursday night that they program to charm each the jury’s guilty verdict and the judge’s sentence.
In a statement on Friday, the Cook County Sheriff’s Business office claimed Smollett is getting held in protective custody — common for individuals “who may potentially be at threat of harm thanks to the mother nature of their expenses, their professions, or their noteworthy status.”
Smollett has his individual mobile, monitored by safety cameras and an officer stationed at the door and wearing a body digital camera, the sheriff’s business office mentioned. Smollett is able to have “substantial time” in popular places to use the cellphone, observe Tv and interact with employees but other detainees would not be in prevalent regions with him.
Smollett faced up to a few years in jail for each of the five felony counts of disorderly carry out — the cost filed for lying to police — of which he was convicted. He was acquitted on a sixth depend.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised the sentence, declaring it sends a concept that “false claims and allegations” would not be tolerated.
“The city feels vindicated in today’s ruling that he is currently being held accountable and that we will properly acquire restitution for his actions,” she reported in a statement.
Smollett’s sentence incorporates a payment of $120,106 in restitution to the metropolis and a $25,000 fantastic.
Smollett was convicted in a December jury trial, exactly where witnesses bundled two brothers who informed jurors Smollett paid out them to have out the attack and gave specific instructions on what to do and say.
Smollett, who knew the gentlemen from his perform on the television present “Empire” that filmed in Chicago, testified that he did not recognize them and did not know they had been the men attacking him.
