'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett found guilty in staged racist hate crime case

Jussie Smollett faces up to three years in prison, but could instead be sentenced to probation and community service. Photo: Handout

A jury in Chicago on Thursday (Dec 9) found US actor Jussie Smollett guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for falsely telling police he was the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime in 2019 - an attack prosecutors said he himself staged.

Smollett, who was one of the stars of the popular television drama Empire at the time, told police in January 2019 that he was attacked in the middle of the night by two masked men while walking near his Chicago home.