Grand Jury Indicts Jussie Smollett on 16 Felony Counts Disorderly Conduct

Smollett was originally charged by the State Attorney's Office with a felony of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. The new indictments obviously take the case to another level.

As for why there are so many counts ... the grand jury reportedly handed up 2 sets of charges -- one for Smollett's initial report to Chicago PD, and the other charges are for Jussie's second interview with cops.

We're told Ola and Abel Osundairo told grand jurors Jussie hired them to stage the so-called "attack." The brothers were caught on camera buying a bunch of supplies before the incident ... including ski masks, gloves, bandanas, sunglasses and red hats.
 

Chicago PD has come out strong against Jussie ... making it clear they had a lot of issues with his version of events -- including the fact he took them to the scene and immediately pointed to a camera which he said captured the incident. Turns out, the camera was pointed in the wrong direction.

Abel and Ola told police they drove with Jussie in the days prior to the incident scouting a location and even rehearsed the "attack."  
 

As for the hate mail sent to Jussie at Fox Studios in Chicago ... police say they believe the "Empire" star is behind that too. However, we know the FBI hadn't confirmed that when Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson blasted Jussie in his news conference.

We also know the brothers told police they had nothing to do with the letter, and only saw it in a photo on Jussie's phone.