Topline
Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was sentenced in a federal court in Chicago Thursday to 20 years in prison on child pornography and enticement charges, though 19 of those years can be served concurrently with a prior 30-year prison sentence from a separate case in New York.
R. Kelly will serve one additional year in prison in addition to his 30-year sentence from a ... [+]
Key Facts
Kelly, 56, will now serve 31 years in prison as a result of the two cases.
Kelly was sentenced for his conviction on six counts of child pornography and child enticement for coercing minors into sex, following a trial last September in which he was also acquitted on seven other counts of receiving child pornography.
Kelly’s attorneys had requested federal Judge Harry Leinenweber limit his sentence to 10 years—the minimum under federal law—and for that prison time to be served concurrently with a 30-year sentence from a separate New York case on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, with Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean arguing the charges in the Chicago case should have been lumped into the New York case, calling it “unjustified.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had asked for 25 years in prison, served after the 30-year sentence, which would have made Kelly 111 years old by the time of his release.
Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faced a maximum of 90 years in prison.
In a written victim impact statement, one of the women who accused Kelly of sexual abuse, identified as Jane, asked, “Does anyone believe what happened to me was OK?” adding that Kelly “shattered me.”
Another accuser, identified as Nia, said Kelly groped her at a recording studio and molested her in a motel room when she was 15 years old in her testimony on Thursday.
Key Background
Kelly, a three-time Grammy award winner who rose to stardom in the 1990s, has faced allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse throughout nearly his entire career. He drew scrutiny over his marriage to late R&B singer Aaliyah in 1994 when he was 24 years old and she was 15, as well as a 1996 lawsuit from his ex-wife Tiffany Hawkins claiming Kelly had sex with her when she was a minor—Kelly paid $250,000 to settle the case. He was also charged with 21 counts of child pornography in 2002, but was acquitted six years later. He was convicted in the New York case in 2021 on eight counts of sex trafficking, for violating the federal Mann Act by taking minors across state lines for sex, and one count of racketeering.
Chief Critic
In her opening statement in Chicago late last year, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean attacked prosecutors for “waiting over two decades” to bring the case forward. Kelly has denied sexual assault allegations against him. Bonjean, meanwhile, has claimed Kelly had faced “horrific” sexual abuse when he was a child that “provides some explanation” for the allegations against him.
Contra
Kelly’s sentencing comes one month after Cook County, Illinois, prosecutor Kim Foxx had dropped criminal sexual assault and abuse charges against Kelly in another case that involved four victims, including three minors. Foxx claimed the 30 years in prison Kelly was sentenced to last June, as well as upcoming sentencing in Illinois, were enough to ensure “justice has been served.” Lanita Carter, who alleges Kelly assaulted her in 2003, said she was “extremely disappointed with Foxx’s decision to drop charges, saying “all hope of justice for my case is gone,” the Associated Press reported at the time. Bonjean, meanwhile, said she was pleased with Foxx’s decision, saying, “I don’t know how many sentences upon sentences would satisfy people.”
Tangent
Kelly’s sentencing also comes on the same day disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein faces a sentencing hearing on his sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles. Weinstein, who was exposed in a bombshell New York Times report in 2017, had previously been sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York on criminal sexual assault and rape charges.
Further Reading
R. Kelly—Already Facing 30 Years In Prison—Asks For Lighter Sentence For Porn Conviction (Forbes)
Illinois Drops Sex-Abuse Charges Against R. Kelly Because Of Previous Conviction (Forbes)
‘He Had A Dark Side’: Prosecutors Slam R. Kelly In Opening Statements Of Sex Abuse Case (Forbes)
