Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of filing a false police report for a staged hate crime, according to the New York Times. A Chicago jury deliberated for over nine hours to charge the Empire actor on Thursday evening; he was found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct and faces up to three years in prison for each count. Smollett filed a police report in 2019 stating that he had been a victim of a hate crime near his Chicago home. However, prosecutors argued that the crime had been staged by Smollett, who hired two Empire extras, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, to participate in the alleged hoax and gave them step-by-step instructions on the planned attack. Abimbola, a key prosecution witness, claimed Smollett “wanted me to fake beat him up†and participated in the hoax in hopes that Smollett would assist him with his own acting career. Smollett continued to deny the staged attack, calling it “a bold-faced lie,†and denied all charges against him.