Actor Jussie Smollett was ordered released from jail Wednesday by an appeals court that agreed with his lawyers that he should be free pending the appeal of his conviction for lying to Chicago police about an attack, The Associated Press reported.
The decision came after a Cook County judge sentenced Smollett last week to immediately begin serving 150 days in jail for his conviction on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police.
In an outburst immediately after the sentence was handed down, Smollett proclaimed his innocence and said, "I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that."
Smollett was found guilty in December of lying to police about an alleged attack he faced in 2019. Smollett, who claimed the attack was real, was convicted of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct.
The appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, said Smollett could be released after posting a personal recognizance bond of $150,000. It was unclear late Wednesday how soon he may be released.
Smollett claimed two men beat him, yelled "racist and homophobic slurs," dumped an "unknown chemical substance" on him and put a noose around his neck while he was walking to Walgreens late at night in Chicago.
Police and prosecutors, however, alleged that Smollett paid two brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo, $3,500 to help him stage the attack. Both brothers testified during the trial that Smollett asked them to carry out a fake attack.