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    ‘I am not suicidal!’ Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail beginning immediately, shouts as he is led from court

    CHICAGO — Shortly after being ordered into custody to begin serving 150 days in jail on Thursday, actor Jussie Smollett finally started to speak. He was innocent, he said. He was not suicidal. Then the former “Empire” actor stood up at the defense table and began talking directly to Judge James Linn, something he’d declined to do during the hearing. “I respect you, your honor,” Smollett said, ...
    by Megan Crepeau and Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune Mar 10, 2022 7 minutes
    Actor Jussie Smollett appears with his attorneys at his sentencing hearing, March 10, 2022, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

    CHICAGO — Shortly after being ordered into custody to begin serving 150 days in jail on Thursday, actor Jussie Smollett finally started to speak.

    He was innocent, he said. He was not suicidal. Then the former “Empire” actor stood up at the defense table and began talking directly to Judge James Linn, something he’d declined to do during the hearing.

    “I respect you, your honor,” Smollett said, his voice rising as he gestured with his hands as though he wanted to say more. “I respect your decision. Jail time? I am not suicidal. ... If anything happens to me in there I did not do it to myself!”

    As Smollett’s attorney tried in vain to get the judge to stay his decision, Smollett was slowly surrounded by sheriff’s deputies before being led from the courtroom, pausing to pump his fist in the air as he disappeared from view into a rear lockup.

    With that, Smollett’s case, undoubtedly the most high-profile Class 4 felony to ever be tried in Chicago, came to a dramatic end.

    In issuing his sentence at the conclusion of a marathon, five-hour hearing, Linn said Smollett’s decision

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