CHICAGO _ In the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 2017, a couple visiting from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area told Chicago police that three men had robbed them at knifepoint on Lower Wacker Drive.
The man and woman said the predatory trio, one of whom "looked like a milk-dud or Fat Albert," stole $5,000 in cash, a $3,000 Louis Vuitton suitcase, a Burberry purse, a $2,000 MacBook Air laptop, a $300 suitcase, a wallet and a $150 iPad Mini.
Some quick detective work revealed their claim was a hoax _ airport security video showed they'd arrived hours earlier without any luggage _ and the dishonest duo were charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
Both ended up recently pleading guilty and receiving a sentence of two years probation and 30 days of community service, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office. The man paid $864 in court costs and was credited with two days of time served in jail; the woman paid $447 in court costs and was credited with five days of time served.
The relevance, of course, is that the story belies the claim of prosecutors that it was perfectly normal to dismiss charges last week against Jussie Smollett, an actor on Fox's "Empire" TV show, for allegedly filing a false police report. Smollett did not have to plead guilty or spend any time in jail and served just two days of community service.
And though Smollett ended up forfeiting his $10,000 bond, he does reportedly earn in excess of $100,000 per episode of "Empire," so ...
Why the difference? I put that question to the Cook County state's attorney's office. "We evaluate each individual case based on the facts, circumstances and evidence," came the reply.
