The verdict is in for Jussie Smollett's criminal trial.
On Thursday, Dec. 9, the Cook County Circuit Court announced a jury found the former Empire actor guilty on five of the six counts of disorderly conduct for making false police reports. The five charges come after he told investigators in January 2019 that he was the victim of an alleged hate crime and battery.
He was found not guilty on the sixth count, which accused him of making a false police report that he was a victim of an aggravated battery.
Nenye Uche, an attorney for Smollett, told reporters outside of the courthouse following the verdict his team "respectfully disagree" with the jury's conclusion.
"The verdict is inconsistent. You cannot say Jussie is lying and Jussie is not lying for the same exact incident. So, we feel 100 percent confident that this case will be won on appeal," Uche said. "Unfortunately, that's not a route we wanted but sometimes that's a route you have to take to win—especially a case where we remain 100 percent confident in our client's innocence."
The verdict came a day after the jury was sent to deliberation on Wednesday, Dec. 8, following a week of testimonies—including one from Smollett himself.
Throughout the trial, Smollett's legal team denied prosecutors' allegations that the 39-year-old star, who is Black and openly gay, paid two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, $3,500 to stage a hate crime to gain public sympathy.
Both brothers testified on the stand during the trial that they were paid to stage a hoax attack. Meanwhile, Smollett said in his testimony that he paid Abimbola for training and fitness advice.
When asked by his attorney if he's ever "planned a hoax," Smollett replied, "Never in my life."
During the trial, Smollett also testified that he met Abimbola at the club during season four of Empire and said the two had a sexual relationship, which Abimbola denied in his own testimony.
In January 2019, Smollett told authorities that two masked men threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs, as well as a statement of support for then-President Donald Trump, during an alleged incident in Chicago. He was arrested a month later amid police skepticism about his account.
"From the first day of this case, this case has been pre-judged. This case has been tried in the media and it's unfortunate," Uche said after the verdict. "It's pretty disappointing what happened, but we remain confident that we're going to come back and we're going to be vindicated."
A grand jury initially indicted Smollett on 16 counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, but local prosecutors dropped all of the charges that March.
Following a five-month investigation from a special prosecutor, Smollett was indicted again in February 2020. Prosecutors alleged he made four separate false reports to Chicago police related to being the victim of a hate crime. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Since his first indictment, Smollett has largely stayed away from the Hollywood scene. He was dropped from Empire in 2019 and the show ended its six season run a year later.
In a news conference, special prosecutor Dan Webb called the verdict a "resounding message from jury that Smollett did exactly what they said he did in court."
He added, "This jury worked so hard and for Mr. Smollett to get up in front of them and lie for hours and hours and hours, that really compounded his misconduct."
E! News has reached out to Smollett's attorneys and the Osundairo brothers' attorney for comment.