WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction for fabricating a racist and homophobic hate crime in 2019 was overturned Thursday by the Illinois Supreme Court on due process grounds.

The gay 42-year-old African-American claimed in January 2019 that he was attacked by two masked men on a Chicago street who shouted slurs at him and placed a noose around his neck.

The claim prompted a police operation to find the assailants and an outpouring of public outrage.

Prosecutors later charged him with 16 felonies, alleging that he had staged the assault and paid two Nigerian brothers $3,500 to carry it out.

However, those charges were dropped in March 2019 under an arrangement in which Smollett forfeited his $10,000 bond and agreed to do community service.

Several charges were later reinstated after a special prosecutor took over the case, and Smollett was found guilty by a jury in December 2021.

He was sentenced to 150 days in prison, but released pending his appeal.

The state’s high court ruled Thursday that bringing the charges a second time after “the defendant has performed his part of the bargain” represented “a due process violation.”

“We therefore reverse defendant’s conviction,” the ruling said.