Jussie Smolletthas been charged, PEOPLE confirms.
“The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has approved a disorderly conduct charge on Jussie Smollett,” a spokesperson for the state’s attorney’s office said.
Anthony Guglielmi, Chief Communications Officer for the Chicago police, alsoconfirmedon Twitter Wednesday that theEmpireactor faces felony charges of disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.
“Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest,” Guglielmi also tweeted.
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.
Smollett is due in court in Chicago at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Jussie Smollett.Leon Bennett/Getty
Fox had no comment.
Smollett defended himself against the claims in a recent interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts.
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 immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Jerod Harris/Getty
“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.”
As questions about Smollett’s claims continued to reverberate Wednesday, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment issued a statement in support of the actor.
“We are currently shooting season 5. We have two episodes remaining to shoot,” Fox said in a previous statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday about the current filming schedule.
source: people.com
