We may be seeing R. Kelly’s cry face one last time. He was just sentenced to 20 years in Chicago for federal sex crimes.
R. Kelly Has A Long Time To Serve
The singer was handed 19 years plus time served already for the crimes he committed against 4 people, 3 of them being underage. Prosecutors recommended 25 years on top of what he has already served.
In this case, in particular, Kelly is up against child pornography charges because of the minors involved. He was convicted on 6 of the 13 child porn charges brought against him and acquitted on charges of conspiracy and enticement.
The U.S. Attorney heading the case, Jon Lausch said at the time of sentencing that Kelly’s time behind bars could be anywhere from 10 to 90 years, so it looks like 20 years is a cakewalk, right?
Other Charges Were Dropped Against R. Kelly
The disgraced singer received some kindness earlier this year when the Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the charges they were to pursue against the “Step In The Name Of Love” singer.
The reason was, it looked like Kelly was already going to get his comeuppance with two similar cases ahead of Cooks County. They placed faith in the legal system and saved a lot of paperwork.
They saw that a lifetime of lockup would likely be in Kelly’s future and decided to take a step back.
Kelly Was Also Convicted In New York
Back in June of 2022, the “Best Of Both Worlds” singer was convicted to 30 years in prison in New York city, he couldn’t dodge that one. He was slapped with 9 federal charges that included sex crimes, and human trafficking.
The trial took one month, and Kelly’s legal team brought in current and former employees to attest to what a great guy Kelly is but more so, that they had never seen him abuse anyone. Some of the witnesses included managers, bodyguards, and assistants.
One of Kelly’s victims took the stand during this trial and said, “I have lost my dignity due to Robert Kelly. I have lost my dreams due to Robert Kelly. I have lost my teenage years to Robert Kelly.”
She described the singer as “abusive and dominating”. She also shared that her stigma in life, she believes, “is forever be the girl that R Kelly peed on.”
Kelly Has A Long History Of Abuse
The singer has been fighting off abuse allegations since the 90s but it came to a head in 2002, when he was indicted on child pornography charges after that nasty tape leaked of him having sex with an unidentified underage girl.
By 2008, he was acquitted but when the #MeToo movement awoke, a light was again shed on Kelly when a 2017 Buzzfeed article reignited the attention on him for something other than music.
Soon after, a Lifetime docuseries titled Surviving R. Kelly premiered and blew the lid off of the well-known secret in the music world. Here we are today, with R. Kelly serving two consecutive sentences adding up to 50 years.
