It appears sentencing for Empire star Jussie Smollett may have to wait just a little while longer.
According to ABC News, on Thursday, a judge ordered Smollett to return back to the Chicago courtroom on March 10, though he was originally expected to receive sentencing on that day. Smollett received the news via Zoom as he was currently in New York at the time of Thursday’s hearing.
It’s been nearly two months since the actor and director was convicted of lying to the police about a staged hate crime that allegedly transpired back in 2019. As previously reported by The Root, jurors found Smollett guilty of five out of six felony counts of disorderly conduct which could result in him receiving a maximum sentence of three years in prison. However, most legal experts expect him to get the minimum of probation and/or a fine plus community service considering the low-level of the crime. Smollett’s defense attorney Nenye Uche has also confirmed that they would likely appealing the conviction at a later time.
“We are confident in our appellate system, we’re confident in our Illinois Supreme Court,” Uche explained at the time per CBS 2 Chicago. “We feel 100 percent confident that this case will be won on appeal.”
In addition to his sentencing, Smollett and his time also have the City of Chicago to contend with. As we also told you, the city is currently seeking $130,000 from the actor and musician in an attempt to recoup the expenses related to “resources used [while] investigating allegations that have now been ruled to be false.” The filing also requests that Smollett be ordered to pay for “any arising legal bills Chicago would incur in lawsuits against him,” as reported by Newsweek.