It’s been a little over a week since the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office unexpectedly announced they were dropping all charges against Jussie Smollett.

Though the actor was a free man as a result of the questionable actions of Kim Foxx’s office, the city of Chicago billed Smollett two days after for $130,106.15 to cover the time and money they say it cost them to investigate the case:

The city asked for an “immediate payment” of $130,106.15 “in an attempt to resolve this matter without further legal action, according to a letter sent from the Chicago Department of Law to Smollett’s attorneys, which was obtained by ABC News. A cashier’s check made payable to the “City of Chicago” was requested to be paid by money order or certified cashier’s check within seven days.

If the fee is not paid in a “timely” manner, the Chicago Department of Law will prosecute Smollett for making the “false” Jan. 29 statement, the letter warned. The city will also impose a fine between $500 and $1,000 in addition to up to three times the amount of damages.

Not only has the fine not been paid in a “timely” manner, it has not been paid at all. As a result, the city is preparing to sue Smollett:

“Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on Jan. 29, 2019,” the city said. “The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County… The Law Department will file the suit in the near future. As part of this legal action, the Law Department will pursue the full measure of damages allowed under the ordinance.”

Police had alleged that the actor staged a fake hate crime in order to keep his job and get more money for his role on the hit TV show “Empire.” After the announcement that the charges were dropped, Kim Foxx was put on the hot seat not only by the Chicago FOP, but by the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association, who questioned her office’s decision and suggested possible illegality for not formally recusing herself after being contacted by a former Michelle Obama aide about the case.

The city fining him, and Smollett not paying the fine is not exactly shocking. Outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel made no secret of how disgusted he was at the turn of events and just about everyone outside of the DA’s office were really upset at bizarre turn of events that let Smollett walk free. Of course Smollett wasn’t going to pay the fine because in doing so it would be like admitting guilt, for which he hasn’t done and won’t do.

The police – and even the DA’s office, for that matter, said they had a pretty solid case against Smollett. But even though he was let off the hook for those charges, the Feds are still looking into the case to see if there’s anything mail-fraud related he can be charged with.

As for Chicago’s lawsuit against Smollett, Rafer Weigel at Fox 32 Chicago notes: “Standards for proving #Smollett staged it will be lower than in criminal court.”

#JussieSmollett has until the end of the day to pay the city $130K which @ChicagosMayor says covers the OT of @Chicago_Police investigation into his alleged hoax. If he doesn’t, city is likely to sue. Standards for proving #Smollett staged it will be lower than in criminal court.

— raferweigel (@RaferWeigel) April 4, 2019

Stay tuned.

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–