City demands $130K from Jussie Smollett for investigation costs
The city on Thursday laid out the cost of the investigation into the alleged hate crime against actor Jussie Smollett and demanded the “Empire” star pay pay the city $130,000.
In a letter from the Chicago Corporation Counsel sent to Smollett’s lawyers Thursday afternoon, officials said the total cost of the overtime the Chicago Police logged to investigate the crime was considerably more than the $10,000 Smollett agreed to forfeit after charges against him for allegedly staging the attack on Jan. 29 were dropped Tuesday.
“The Chicago Police Department conducted an extensive investigation into this report,” the letter sent to attorney Patricia Brown Holmes’ office says. “Over two dozen detectives and police officers participated in the investigation, ultimately spending weeks investigating the false claims, including a substantial number of overtime hours.”
The city threatened to take legal action under the municipal code of Chicago if the actor did not pay up.
TIMELINE: The Jussie Smollett investigation
“If the amount is not timely paid, the Department of Law may prosecute you [Mr. Smollett] for making a false statement to the City under section 1-21-010 of the Municipal Code of Chicago or pursue any other legal remedy available at law,” it reads. “A violation of the false statement ordinance imposes a fine of not less than $500 and a maximum of $1,000, plus up to three times the amount of damages the City sustains as a result of the violation. The City may also seek to recover court costs, collection costs, and attorney’s fees.”
City did not immediately comment on the letter.
The alleged crime took place on Jan. 29, when Smollett told police he was viciously attacked while walking from a Subway sandwich shop near his Streeterville home. Smollett said his attackers hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, poured bleach on him and stuck a noose around his neck. The horrific nature of the crime, which received national condemnation, led the police on an all-out manhunt to solve the crime.
Police later determined it was all a hoax, and Smollett was charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct. Those charges were abruptly dropped Tuesday by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office. Foxx and her top assistant said they believed Smollett was guilty but said they were offering him an alternative sentence, in which he was required to forfeit the $10,000 bond to the city.
Smollett and his attorneys have claimed in interviews since then that the fact the charges were dropped proves his innocence. Holmes could not immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier Thursday on Steve Cochran’s morning drive radio program WGN-AM (720), Mayor Rahm Emanuel said billing Smollett was “a small way of both acknowledging guilt and, two, that we spent these resources and the taxpayers are deserved, at minimum” restitution.
“And I think there’s a whole level [of] ethical costs because he’s still walking around [saying] `Hey, I’m innocent. Everything I said from day one is true.’ We’re gonna get the resources back. But, come with those resources is, implicitly, if you pay it, that the city spent money to uncover what the grand jury discovered.”
In response to Emanuel’s comments, Smollett’s defense team shot back: “It is the Mayor and the Police Chief who owe Jussie — owe him an apology — for dragging an innocent man’s character through the mud. Jussie has paid enough.”