'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett indicted on 16 felony counts by grand jury

[babylonsister]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/empire-actor-jussie-smollett-indicted-16-felony-counts-grand-jury-n981236?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR1KFxnb1lC_LVwoSjzLRmAAt-IR86fb4YeHlNI1xdWVuWeZKm3PudgMN7s


'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett indicted on 16 felony counts by grand jury
Smollett was charged last month with felony disorderly conduct for the allegedly false report he made with Chicago police in January.
March 8, 2019, 4:49 PM EST
By Doha Madani


"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a grand jury in Chicago on 16 felony counts after allegedly lying to police about being the victim of a racist and homophobic hate crime.

Smollett was charged last month with felony disorderly conduct for the allegedly false report he made with Chicago police on Jan. 29, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. In it, he claimed he was assaulted by two masked men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs.

The actor, 36, who is black and gay, also said his attackers poured what he believed was bleach over him and put a noose around his neck.

Smollett and his attorneys have denied the allegations against him.

This is a developing story.

[CincyDem]

1. Soooo...if found guilty...you think he'll get more than 47 months ?

[sheshe2]

4. Took the words out of my mouth. nt

[FBaggins]

6. Never seen his show nor heard of him until now

Has he led an otherwise blameless life and been a good friend to others?

[Igel]

7. Depends, I guess.

Re: Manafort. I've heard a lot of talk comparing his sentence against guidelines, and I've seen a lot of talk about his sentence compared to others sentenced that have different histories or committed different crimes. They compare different crimes or people in different (legal) classes, or (worse) both. It's like comparing apples with sausages.

While both of these kinds of comparisons have an outrage component, often the subtext is "he's been convicted for those crimes, but the punishment really should be for ___________." For the blank fill in everything from helping get Trump elected to treason to helping Putin, but none of those were actually part of the charges.


What I haven't heard in the Manafort sentencing discussion is comparing his sentence with people who committed the same crimes. I say this because it's been an evergreen complaint that white collar crimes have far lower sentences handed out than you'd expect, and often are much lighter than mandatory sentences for lesser crimes. For all I know, his sentences are entirely in line with averages (or no more than a standard deviation away from the averages).

[BigmanPigman]

2. Damn, this screws it up for real victims.

Thanks a lot Jessie!

[hlthe2b]

3. The reverberations/damage from this will go on and on and on and on...

It isn't just his own life essentially destroyed but how many others will not be believed? What level of "license" will this give to white supremacists and other bigots?

[samnsara]

5. well there goes his raise!

[RandiFan1290]

8. Ashley Todd mugging hoax

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Todd_mugging_hoax

In October 2008, Ashley Todd, a volunteer for the U.S. presidential campaign of Republican John McCain,[1] falsely claimed to have been the victim of robbery and politically motivated physical assault by a supporter of McCain's Democratic opponent Barack Obama.[2] The story broke less than two weeks before the 2008 United States presidential election on November 4. Todd later confessed to inventing the story after surveillance photos and a polygraph test were presented. She was charged with filing a false police report, and entered a probation program for first-time offenders.

[jcmaine72]

9. Smollett went about this the wrong way.

If the allegations are true, and his motive was to get more money, he should've gone straight to the programing director at Faux Spews and pitched this scheme to them first. Because, in the end, I think they would have gladly paid top dollar for all the free ammo he has provided them with to take shots at the two groups they despise the most.

He's still maintaining his innocence. I sincerely hope that he is because the alternative is terrible.

[exboyfil]

10. Keep your eye on this case

Where apparently three white women called the police on a black man gardening in an abandoned park. They accused him of being involved in a gang and pedophilia. They were not charged, and he was charged for stalking and went before a judge who threw it out because it was crap.

I think the Smollet's case can't help but drive the criminal case that has not yet been filed on these three women.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/08/gardening-while-black-lawsuit-marc-peeples