Jussie Smollett’s sister expressed outrage that the actor was sentenced to jail for 150 days and ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution for faking a hate crime against himself.
After sentencing Thursday, 41-year-old Jazz Smollett claimed her brother was innocent and criticized how the case was handled, WFMZ reported Friday.
“This should not be a controversial statement because it is the absolute truth. What should be controversial is the entire miscarriage of justice his whole ordeal has been,” she said.
Jussie Smollett was sentenced Thursday to 150 days in Cook County jail and 30 months on probation, and ordered to pay restitution of $120,106 and a fine of $25,000, according to Breitbart News.
“Smollett’s sentencing comes three months after the disgraced actor was found guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report after he hired two brothers from Nigeria to stage a fake hate crime against him,” the outlet said.
Meanwhile, Jocqui Smollett claimed his sibling was a “complete victim,” telling reporters, “He was attacked and he is now going to jail for being attacked. I saw my brother get locked up within two weeks for being attacked. Do you know how crazy that is?”
Following his sentencing Smollett said he was innocent and told the courtroom he was not suicidal:
“You’re just a charlatan, pretending to be a victim of a hate crime,” Judge James Linn told him, adding, “Your very name has become an adverb for ‘lying.'”
However, Smollett’s elder brother, Jojo Smollett, claimed, “[The judge] shamed my brother, he spoke about his arrogance. He doesn’t know the struggles my brother is encountering. He doesn’t know anything that he’s dealing with.”
“In 2022, we don’t shame people like this. Alright? He basically called him a mental case,” he stated.