Jussie Smollettis under arrest after the actor, 36, was charged with filing a false police report about hisalleged hate attackon Wednesday.
Anthony Guglielmi, Chief Communications Officer for the Chicago police,confirmedon Twitter on Thursday morning that theEmpireactor is “under arrest and in custody of detectives.”
Tom Ahern, deputy director of news affairs and communications for the Chicago police, also confirmed the arrest on Twitter, writing, “Chicago Police Detectives take #Empire actor #JussieSmollett into custody to face Class 4 Felony charge (punishable for up to 3yrs in prison) for Disorderly Conduct in Falsifying Police report.”
Smollett’s bond hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CST on Thursday.
The arrest news comes after Smollett and his legal team said they are gearing up to launch an“aggressive defense.”
“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,” Smollett’s attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson said in a statement given to PEOPLE on Wednesday.
“Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense.”
Jussie Smollett.Leon Bennett/Getty
On Wednesday,PEOPLE confirmedthat Smollett had been charged.A spokespersonfor the state’s attorney’s office said at the time, “The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has approved a disorderly conduct charge on Jussie Smollett.”
Guglielmi alsoconfirmed on TwitterWednesday that Smollett faces felony charges of disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.
If Smollett is found guilty, falsifying a police report is a Class 4 felony which carries a potential sentence of one to three years in prison.
Jussie Smollett.David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty
Smollettdefended himselfagainst the claims he was lying in arecent interviewwith ABC News’ Robin Roberts.
Last week, brothers Ola and Abel Osundairo — identified in surveillance footage on the night of the incident — werearrestedandreleased without charges. The following day, reports emerged that the brothers claimed theEmpirestar paid them to stage the incident.
An attorney for the men, Gloria Schmidt, previously toldCBS Chicagothat the men know Smollett from working onEmpireand occasionally go to the same gym as the actor. She did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment at the time.
“One of these purported suspects was Jussie’s personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video,” the statement continued. “It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity.”
source: people.com
