Jussie Smollett Has Been Arrested And Charged
ABC 7/CHICAGO –“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with one count of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said Wednesday evening.
Smollett is due in court in Chicago at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said CPD detectives will make contact with Smollett’s legal team to “negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest.”
Should Jussie Smollette go to jail?
— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) February 21, 2019
Smollett is not in custody at this time. Guglielmi told ABC News police are not actively looking for the actor because “this is not a violent crime,” but said “the longer this goes, the more we have to do what we have to do.”
Guglielmi told ABC News police do not know where Smollett is, and “his attorneys have not shared where he is at this point.”
Overheard … “Jussie Smollette got arrested b4 R.Kelly in Chicago…”
🤔
— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) February 21, 2019
“I know this can be difficult emotionally, and we hope he doesn’t do anything terrible. We want to make this as diplomatic as possible. In the end, this is only a class 4 felony. He will get through this and we want to make it as easy as possible for him to do it. But again, it is about accountability,” Guglielmi told ABC News.
Twentieth Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment said they have no comment at this time.
That part. https://t.co/K7F0EyhrAf
— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) February 21, 2019
Guglielmi said CPD detectives presented evidence before a Cook County grand jury Wednesday.
Smollett’s attorneys, Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson, released a statement, saying, “Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense.”
