Jussie Smollett’s legal case just took another turn for the worse. On Thursday, a Cook County grand jury indicted him on 16 felony counts after allegedly lying to police about being the victim of a hate crime.

In January 2019, the 36-year-old Empire star was reported to have been targeted in an alleged racist, homophobic assault in Chicago. But a month later, after questioning two men, police classified Smollett a suspect in a criminal investigation and he was later arrested and charged with one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. Police had accused him of paying the men to orchestrate an assault on him.

On Thursday, the grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. His attorneys had no immediate comment on the indictment when contacted by E! News. His rep said the studio and the FOX network have no comment on Thursday’s developments in the case. Smollett, who is out on $100,000 bail, and his lawyers have in recent weeks denied the allegations made against him.

Courtesy: eonline.com