Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett is back in the news this week after special prosecutor Dan Webb indicted him on a reported six counts, stemming from the dramatic case he was involved in last year in which he claimed he was a victim of a hate crime that was later revealed to be a setup.

According to WGNTV, Webb was appointed as a special prosecutor in the Smollett case after the Cook County prosecutor — still for reasons unknown — dropped all charges against the fledgling actor last year with no real explanation. At the time, Smollett was facing a staggering 16 counts of disorderly conduct for his role in allegedly faking the entire “hate crime” incident.

Authorities made the case that Smollett paid two brothers to stage the hate crime. Smollett even claimed that the assailants shouted pro-Trump messages while they attacked him and put a noose around his neck.

BOOM: Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor in Chicago for his fake hate crime HOAX last year He is set to appear in court February 24th Justice is coming. RT! — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 11, 2020

Authorities said Smollett paid the brothers $3,500 to make the hoax hate crime come to life and accused Smollett of going through with the charade because he wasn’t happy with his salary from working on “Empire” and also because he felt it would bump him up a few notches in the world of Hollywood.

In the summer of 2019, a former state appellate judge petitioned for a special prosecutor in Smollett’s case after he escaped all of the 16 charges. While it wasn’t initially expected to be approved, a judge issued a surprise ruling and appointed Webb as the special prosecutor, giving authorities a new chance to prove that Smollett isn’t innocent of his alleged crimes.

There hasn’t been a warrant issued for Smollett’s arrest, however, the actor is scheduled to make a February 24 court appearance.