Jussie Smollett has been released from jail after just six days.
Last Thursday, the actor was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months probation for staging a hate crime against himself, and he was immediately remanded into custody.
The former Empire star was previously charged with six counts of disorderly conduct, after falsely reporting he had been the victim of a homophobic and racist attack in January 2019.
In December 2021, the 39-year-old was found guilty on five of the six counts, each count representing a false statement made.
Jussie was also fined $25,000, and ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago.
The actor has since been released from Cook County Jail on bond, pending the appeal of his conviction.
His attorney Nenye Uche told Entertainment Tonight in a statement: “We are very pleased with the ruling made by the Illinois First District Appellate Court. We are pleased that sensationalism and politics will be put aside and we can finally have an intellectual discussion about our laws with our esteemed appellate court.”
“Three years ago, Jussie and the State of Illinois reached a deferred prosecution agreement in which he paid a ten thousand dollar fine and performed community service. As a result, the case was dismissed.”
“To be recharged and prosecuted for the exact same thing, a second time, is not just morally wrong, but certainly double jeopardy and thus unconstitutional. Especially as it concerns an innocent man.”
According to the Associated Press, Jussie’s lawyers argued that the actor would have already completed his sentence by the time he would have been able to appeal the conviction.
Additionally, they reportedly argued that he could be in danger of physical harm in lock-up.
In January 2019, Jussie told police that he was walking home in Chicago when two masked men attacked him, and hurled racist abuse at him.
In court, prosecutors claimed the actor staged the attack to get media attention, and paid $3,500 to two brothers, Abimbola “Bola” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, to help him fake the incident.
During his court testimony, Abimbola claimed he was contacted by Jussie who “explained that he wanted me to fake beat him up.”
According to CBS2, Abimbola said he agreed because he “felt indebted to Jussie” and “believed he could further my acting career.”
Jussie repeatedly denied their claims in court, and said their account was “100% false”.
🚨BREAKING: Jussie Smollett SCREAMS in rage at sentencing Judge as he's handcuffed and sent to JAIL for FAKING a hate crime pic.twitter.com/BkQjtuyf5l
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 11, 2022
During a week-long trial in December, the actor’s defence attorneys argued that the brothers attacked him because they were homophobic and did not like “who he was”.
They also claimed the brothers made up the story about the attack being “fake” to get money from Jussie.
