Smollett trial on charges of fake racist attack to begin - CTV News

That was the story that ricocheted around the world after Jussie Smollett, a Black and openly gay actor, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime.

Nearly three years later, Smollett is about to stand trial on charges that he staged the whole thing.

He was charged with felony disorderly conduct after law enforcement and prosecutors said he lied to police about what happened in the early morning hours of Jan.

Disorderly conduct, a class 4 felony, carries a sentence of up to three years in prison but experts have said it is more likely that if Smollett is convicted he would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service.

Smollett told police he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at 2 a.m.

He said the men struck him, looped a makeshift noose around his neck and shouted, "This is MAGA country," a reference to then-President Donald Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again.".

Just weeks later came the stunning announcement that Smollett was charged with staging the attack to further his career and secure a higher salary.

And, police said, he hired two brothers from Nigeria, to pretend to attack him for US$3,500.

This made the spotlight on Smollett shine even brighter, but this time he was vilified as someone willing to use one of the most potent symbol of racism in the U.S.

"The most vile and despicable part of it, if it's true, is the noose," Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr., who is Black, said during Smollett's first court appearance.

Then came the anger that Smollett's fame accorded him influence that is out of reach for most.

Reports indicated Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, at the request of former first lady Michelle Obama's onetime chief of staff, communicated with a member of Smollett's family early in the investigation.

Smollett -- whose career has since faded -- will this week return to the glare of the media spotlight, but this time as he passes the forest of news cameras as he makes his way to and from court

Key witnesses will be the brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who say Smollett wrote them a check to stage the attack

And, according to their lawyer, the brothers will also describe how Smollett drove them to the spot where the incident was to play out for a "dress rehearsal."

Attorney Nenye Uche, left, and Jussie Smollett leave a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago on July 14, 2021