In another arc of R. Kelly’s dizzying legal troubles, the “Fiesta” singer may face a 25-year jail sentence on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
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No Remorse Or Respect
R. Kelly is being hit with another legal fight that could add 25 years to his jail term. The news follows a request coming from federal prosecutors filed in New York on Wednesday.
In the filing submitted to the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors emphasized Kelly’s “decades of crime,” and his “callous disregard for the very real effects that his crimes had on his victims”, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Prosecutors asked the 55-year-old to pay a fine ranging from $50,000 to $250,000, CNN reported.
The Chicago Sun reported prosecutors writing in their filing, “The defendant’s decades of crime appear to have been fueled by narcissism and a belief that his musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct – no matter how predatory, harmful, humiliating or abusive to others – to the strictures of the law.”
They continued, “actions were brazen, manipulative, controlling and coercive. He has shown no remorse or respect for the law,”
“Put simply, [Kelly’s] crimes were calculated, methodical, and part [of] a long-standing pattern of using his platform as a larger-than-life musical persona and his deep network to gain access to teenagers, many of whom were particularly vulnerable, and then to exploit them for his personal gain and sexual gratification.”
Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, asked the court to give him a sentence of less than 14 years behind bars, reported Reuters. The 55-year-old will be sentenced on June 29.
The musician was found guilty on charges of racketeering and sexual trafficking by a jury of seven men and five women in September 2021, coming after an intense month-long trial that involved 50 separate witnesses. A large portion of the evidence that was used in the trial revolved around his 1994 marriage to Aaliyah, who was only 15 at the time while Kelly was 27.
In Wednesday’s memo, prosecutors also wrote about the wedding. This wedding was later annulled with help from Aaliyah’s family.
“Aaliyah was only 12 at the time [Kelly’s] sexual abuse of her began and 15 when he secretly and fraudulently married her in an effort to protect himself from the consequences of that abuse,” prosecutors wrote Wednesday, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Put simply, [Kelly’s] crimes were calculated, methodical, and part [of] a long-standing pattern of using his platform as a larger-than-life musical persona and his deep network to gain access to teenagers, many of whom were particularly vulnerable, and then to exploit them for his personal gain and sexual gratification.”
On Aug. 1, he will be going to trial in Chicago on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice.
R. Kelly Found Guilty of All Counts in Racketeering and Sex Trafficking Trial
After more than 25 years of accusations and a 7-week trial, R. Kelly has been found guilty of racketeering charges and sex trafficking. A New York federal court has him facing decades in prison.
R. Kelly was found guilty of charges including sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, sex trafficking involving five victims, and racketeering in which the late singer Aaliyah was named as a victim. The R&B icon also faces a possible sentence of 10 years to life in prison. It is still awaiting a second federal trial on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Illinois.
