Actor from TV show Empire is facing decades in prison

Jussie Smollet , also known as Jamal Lyon from the hit TV show Empire, could be facing decades in prison for staging a hate crime against him. On January 22, 2019, Smollett claimed that he received a threatening letter which showed a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing towards it. On January 29, 2019, Smollett said that he was attacked in the early morning of that day in the 300 block of East Lower North Water Street in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood.

It was later found that Jussie was lying and had staged the attack as a hate crime. Smollett was indicted on February 20, 2019, for disorderly conduct after allegedly paying two American-Nigerian brothers to stage a fake hate crime assault on him and filing a false police report. Police alleged that he staged the attack because he was dissatisfied with his pay on Empire.