Special prosecutor Dan Webb asked a judge Thursday to include “an appropriate amount of prison time” when sentencing Jussie Smollett for his conviction of lying to police in a staged hate crime.
Webb said during a sentencing hearing Thursday that he would not ask for a specific amount of time, leaving that to the Cook County judge’s discretion.
He also asked that Smollett be ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago.
Jussie Smollett’s grandmother called her grandson a “justice warrior” at his sentencing Thursday and asked a judge not to include prison time in his sentence for the former “Empire” actor’s conviction of lying to police in a staged hate crime.
Witnesses for both the state and Smollett testified at Smollett’s sentencing at the Cook County Courthouse. Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who was called by the state, submitted a statement that was read aloud by Samuel Mendenhall, a member of the special prosecution team.
In the statement, Brown, who became superintendent in April 2020 and wasn’t with the city at the time of Smollett’s police report, said Smollett’s false report of a hate crime harmed “actual victims” of such crimes. He said the financial cost of investigating Smollett’s report was significant. But he added that the effect on true victims of hate crimes cannot be measured.
Brown also asked that the city be compensated for its costs, saying the cost of investigating his claim could have been spent elsewhere in the city.
“The city is a victim of Mr. Smollett’s crime,” Brown said.
Smollett’s brother, Joel Smollett, Jr., spoke for the defence, telling the court that Smollett is “not a threat to the people of Illinois. In my humble opinion, he is completely innocent.”
Joel Smollett, Jr. also mocked suggestions that his brother going to jail would restore public trust in the criminal justice system. He said the case boils down to “he said, he said.”
Smollett’s attorneys also read aloud letters from other supporters, including an organizer with Black Lives Matter, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and LaTanya and Samuel L. Jackson that asked Cook County Judge James Linn to consider the case’s effect on Smollett’s life and career and to avoid any confinement as part of his sentence.
