The city of Chicago says it is going to sue “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, setting up the likelihood that he will be tried after all, in civil court, for allegations that the faked the infamous “hate crime” on Jan. 29 in which he said he was attacked by two men using racial and homophobic slurs.

TMZ reports that the city is moving forward with plans to sue Smollett. The action comes after the city demanded payment of $130,000 for the cost of investigating his case.

According to TMZ, after receiving the original request from the city, “Jussie’s people told the City to go pound sand.”

“The City had to wait 7 days before filing a civil lawsuit against the actor,” TMZ adds. “Well the 7 days has now passed, and the City has made its intentions clear — they are going forward with the lawsuit.”

The report quotes a spokesman for the city saying: “Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019. The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once it is filed, the Law Department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett’s L.A.-based legal team.”

TMZ notes that the city can ask for as much as three times the actual cost of the investigation, or $390,000.

“In addition, in order to win, the City must prove that it’s more likely than not that Jussie faked the ‘attack.’ This, in effect, puts Jussie on trial before an administrative law judge,” TMZ adds.