“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was indicted Friday on 16 felony counts following his Chicago attack allegations.
In January, Smollett told police that he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a sandwich shop in the early morning on Jan. 29. The actor, who is black and gay, said the masked men beat him, made derogatory comments and yelled, “This is MAGA country” — an apparent reference to President Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” — before fleeing.
But that isn’t how police say it all went down. According to the Chicago Police Department, Smollett paid Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo by check for a “phony attack” in order to take “advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
Smollett, who is accused of filing a false police report, was charged last month with felony disorderly conduct. After turning himself in, a judge set Smollett’s bond for $100,000 and he was released from jail. If convicted, he will face up to three years behind bars.
The indictment — eight counts from what he told the officer who responded to the report of the attack and eight for what he later told a detective — comes a little more than two weeks after prosecutors announced one felony count of the same charge.
