The verdict is in for Jussie Smollett‘s criminal trial.
On Thursday, Dec. 9, the Cook County Circuit Court announced a jury found the former Empire actor guilty on five of the six counts of disorderly conduct for making false police reports. The five charges come after he told investigators in January 2019 that he was the victim of an alleged hate crime and battery.
He was found not guilty on the sixth count, which accused him of making a false police report that he was a victim of an aggravated battery.
The verdict came a day after the jury was sent to deliberation on Wednesday, Dec. 8, following a week of testimonies—including one from Smollett himself.
Throughout the trial, Smollett’s legal team denied prosecutors’ allegations that the 39-year-old star, who is Black and openly gay, paid two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, $3,500 to stage a hate crime to gain public sympathy.
Both brothers testified on the stand during the trial that they were paid to stage a hoax attack. Meanwhile, Smollett said in his testimony that he paid Abimbola for training and fitness advice.
