Jussie Smollett Believes the Judge Sentenced Him to Jail Because He’s Black

Jussie Smollett believes there is one common reason he was sent to prison and it is not because of a scam … he says it is because he is black.

Sources with direct information and constant contact with the “Empire” actor tell TMZ … Jussi was expected to go to jail. He told his defense team before the verdict that he felt he would be treated more severely than other defendants convicted of a non-violent crime … all because of his skin color. He believes it is more evidence of systemic racism in the justice system.

Jussie told his team he was dead after the verdict, when he predicted the outcome … based on the hostility shown to him by the judge. He called it “unfortunate” and “sad.”

As you know, the judge read a riot to Jussie, saying the scam was ingrained desire to gain more fame and more attention.

We took the court to comment, and a spokesman for the Cook County Chief Justice’s Office tells TMZ … “Judges can’t comment on pending cases, and it’s still pending.”

As we report … Jussie will be was held under protection – on request – while serving time behind bars, security cameras and an officer with a camera attached to the body observing his cell.

According to our source, Jussie spoke in court that he was not suicidal because he wanted to make it clear to the public that if something happened to him in prison, it was a crime … and our sources referred Jeffrey Epstein the end result, and that was on Jussi’s mind when he commented.