CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Reactions are pouring in after former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty Thursday of five counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports to police that he was a victim of a hate crime in January 2019. 

The 39-year-old was acquitted on a sixth count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after Smollett said he was attacked. 

Former Illinois prosecutor Pat Brady, columnist John Kass, criminal defense attorney Arthur Aidala and NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield joined “The Donlon Report” to share their thoughts on the verdict after the almost weeklong trial concluded. 

“I do think that he might do some time,” Brady said. “The basis of the crime is filing this false police report. There was a big expense here, a big risk to the city and you know there was a potential … in this city for a race riot.”

Disorderly conduct is a class 4 felony that carries a prison sentence of up to three years, but experts have said if convicted, Smollett would likely be placed on probation and ordered to perform community service.

However, Aidala said he agrees with Brady and that Smollett should serve time for his actions. 

“I don’t see the special prosecutor asking for the maximum penalty, but I do see them definitely asking for some period of jail time, whether it’s six months, six weeks, I don’t know. But I don’t agree that he deserves no jail.”

Kass, who is a former Chicago Tribune columnist, called the case a “clown show” and blamed Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx for quietly dropping the entire 16-count indictment against Smollett in March 2019. 

“She’s [Foxx] gonna walk away with this and she’s the one who played this as a game. The people in Chicago wasted their time.”

NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield believes that Smollett could be hit with the maximum sentence.  

“I think there’s going to be not only jail time, I think he’s going to be hit with the max. Because again, it’s not just a case. It is a case that is under scrutiny, the whole country’s watching, and it is a different time.”

When the verdict was read, Smollett showed no visible reaction. He and his family left the courthouse without comment.

After the verdict, special prosecutor Dan Webb, the lead special prosecutor, doubled down on comments he made during his closing statement, in which he flatly called Smollett a liar. 

“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,” Webb said. “Defendants do not have the right to go in front of a jury and lie under oath. Mr. Smollett would not have lost this case, as he did today, unless the jury found that he lied to them.”  

Following the verdict, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement: “The Jury has spoken. While this case has garnered a lot of attention, we hope as a county we can move forward. At the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office we will continue to focus on the important work of this office, prioritizing and prosecuting violent crime.”

Nenye Uche, Smollett’s lead defense attorney, said that he and his co-counsels were “100% confident that this case will be won on appeal.” 

Uche, while delivering the defense’s closing argument, countered that the prosecution’s star witnesses, Olabinjo and Amibola Osundairo, were themselves lying when they testified that Smollett recruited them to take part in a phony hate crime. 

“They’re certified liars,” Uche said of the Osundairo brothers. “They lied to this court, they’ve lied to this jury.”

The jury deliberated for just over nine hours Wednesday and Thursday after a roughly one-week trial in which two brothers testified that Smollett recruited them to fake the attack near his home in downtown Chicago in January 2019. They said Smollett orchestrated the hoax, telling them to put a noose around his neck and rough him up in view of a surveillance camera, and that he said he wanted video of the hoax made public via social media.

Smollett testified that he was the victim of a real hate crime, telling jurors “there was no hoax.” He called the brothers “liars” and said the $3,500 check he wrote them was for meal and workout plans. His attorneys argued that the brothers attacked the actor — who is gay and Black — because they are homophobic and didn’t like “who he was.” They also alleged the brothers made up the story about the attack being staged to get money from Smollett, and that they said they wouldn’t testify against him if Smollett paid them each $1 million.

Defense attorney Nenye Uche said Smollett would appeal the conviction. He maintained Smollett is “100% innocent” and expressed confidence the actor would be cleared by an appellate court.

Judge James Linn set a post-trial hearing for Jan. 27, and said he would schedule Smollett’s sentencing at a later date. 

The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WGN-TV contributed to this report.

Watch The Donlon Report weeknights at 6/5c.