A federal appeals court upheld singer R. Kelly's convictions and 30-year prison sentence
A federal appeals court affirmed R. Kelly's racketeering and sex trafficking convictions on Wednesday, as well as his 30-year jail sentence.
Kelly, 58, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted on nine charges by a Brooklyn, N.Y., jury in 2021 and sentenced to 30 years in June 2022 for leveraging his celebrity to expose young admirers, some of whom were children, to systematic sexual assault.
Kelly sought relief in appeals court, with his lawyer arguing to judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that prosecutors improperly used a racketeering statute intended to combat organized crime to target the singer.
Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney, said in a statement that she believes the Supreme Court will consider the case. She termed the 2nd Circuit decision "unprecedented," claiming it allows prosecutors unrestricted authority to apply the racketeering law "to situations absurdly remote" from the statute's meaning.
The appeals court rejected Kelly’s claims on Wednesday, concluding in its decision: “We have considered all arguments presented by Kelly on appeal and concluded they are without merit. For the reasons set forth (in the court document) we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.”
Kelly is serving a 20-year prison term concurrently for a second case after being convicted in Chicago in 2022 on three counts of making child sexual abuse pictures and three counts of enticing kids for sex.
Kelly is serving a 20-year prison term concurrently for a second case after being convicted in Chicago in 2022 on three counts of making child sexual abuse pictures and three counts of enticing kids for sex.
The Supreme Court denied Kelly's appeal in that case in October. Kelly's appeal in that case was earlier denied by a federal appeals court in Chicago, which ruled in April that he was rightly sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex offenses.
Kelly is serving a total of 31 years for both crimes after a court found that he may serve 19 years of each sentence concurrently, plus one year.
Kelly's work includes the 1996 smash "I Believe I Can Fly" and the cult classic "Trapped in the Closet," a multipart story of sexual betrayal and intrigue.
Kelly released millions of CDs and remained popular even after charges of abuse against underage girls surfaced in the 1990s. He was cleared of child sexual abuse picture charges in Chicago in 2008, but a second trial in Chicago in 2022 resulted in his conviction on counts of making child sexual abuse photos and soliciting females for sex.
