Those two men later told authorities that Smollett paid them to stage the attack. Those allegations, along with previous doubts prompted a grand jury to indict Smollett with 16 counts that included felony disorderly conduct in relation to filing a false report.
Although prosecutors maintained Smollett was guilty, they dropped the charges and instead order him to forfeit the remainder of his $10,000 bond and perform community service. In April the city filed a lawsuit requesting $130,000 in civil penalties, damages and attorney’s fees and costs arising from Smollett’s “false statements.”
Smollett’s attorney’s filed the lawsuit Northern District of Illinois on Tuesday. The suit claims the City of Chicago “maliciously” prosecuted Smollett “in bad faith” and filed criminal charges against him “without probable cause.” The lawsuit also states that the city of Chicago “is not entitled to recover further costs for services.” A spokesperson for the Chicago Law Department released a statement to ABC News stating: “The City stands by its original complaint and will continue to pursue this litigation. The judge, in this case, has already ruled in our favor once and we fully expect to be successful in defeating these counterclaims.”