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Smollett was ordered released from jail on March 17, pending appeal of his conviction and 150-day sentence for staging a hoax hate crime on himself in 2019.

The one-page order from the Illinois Appellate Court stated that Smollett was to be released from Cook County Jail after signing a $150,000 recognizance bond, which would not require him to post any money, The Chicago Tribune reported. The only explanation offered in the order was that Smollett has never been convicted of a violent offense and would have completed his sentence of incarceration well before his appeal is decided.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb opposed the move, writing in a motion that Smollett relied "on half-truths and misleading statements, at best, to manufacture an alleged emergency" and win his release on bond.

On March 10, Judge James Linn sentenced Smollett to 30 months of probation, with the first 150 days to be served in Cook County Jail. In addition, he must pay a $25,000 fine as well as $120,106—the amount of restitution the city sought to pay for its overtime costs investigating the case, minus the $10,000 Smollett forfeited to the city when his first case was dropped.

The legal developments involving embattled Empire actor Jussie Smollett seem to have more twists and turns than any episode of his former show.