Felony charges have been confirmed filed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office after a day of Grand Jury hearings where evidence was presented by the Chicago police department.
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“Smollett is considered a suspect for filing a false police report, a felony, and detectives are presenting the case to a grand jury,” said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi hours earler.
Lawyers for the Empire actor were meeting Wednesday with prosecutors and police investigators.
The actor now faces a Class 4 felony and could see prison time between 1 to 3 three years if found guilty.
Just hours earlier footage was revealed showing Ola and Abel Osundairo, the two brothers arrested last week and released without charges amid reports they were paid by Empire actor Jussie Smollett to stage an alleged hate crime, purchasing a red hat and ski masks the day before the alleged attack took place.
And prior to that evidence surfaced saying Smollett was behind the creation of a threatening letter that was sent to the studio where Empire is shot, according to two sources who spoke with CBS Chicago.
The brothers are acquaintances of Smollett. One had worked as an extra on the Empire set, and the other was a personal trainer who had worked with the actor. They were reportedly paid $3500 to stage the attack.
The brothers told CBS Chicago: “We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens.”
CBS Chicago reported: ‘During the search of the brothers’ home last week, a “piece of paper/writing” was also seized. CBS 2 is the only news source with video from inside that house. Police evidence logs exclusively obtained by CBS 2, show investigators took the writing sample, magazine, and a “wallet with stamps.” Chicago police say the FBI is handling the investigation surrounding the letter, because that’s a federal-level concern.
Read our coverage of the Smollett case here.
