R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years in prison He was convicted in all nine counts against him in the high-profile sex trafficking case,
US District Court Judge Ann Donnelly sentenced in a Brooklyn courtroom after several of Kelly’s victims angrily addressed the convicted sex offender during the trial.
“You let me down, humiliated me and broke my spirit,” said one woman, who went by Jane Doe No. “I wish I could die because of how you let me down.”
The victim recalled an incident when she was forced to perform oral sex on the music star “after playing basketball, in a car full of her friends”.
“do you remember that?!” he said. “You couldn’t care less. I avoided your name and your songs and choked in fear. What you did left a lasting stain on my life.”
The victim momentarily stopped speaking when she saw Kelly speaking to one of her attorneys and sarcastically apologized: “I’m sorry, I don’t want to interrupt your conversation.”
“You are an abuser, shameless, disgusting,” she said. “I hope you stay in prison for the rest of your life. I feel sorry for you.”
Kelly, 55, Was found guilty of racketeering and infringing in September Mann ActLaw that bans the transport of people across state lines “for any immoral purpose”.
sentence was more over 25 years Federal prosecutors demanded In a letter to Donnelly earlier this month.
In the memo and during the trial, prosecutors argued that Kelly relied on his fame, money and popularity – and a network of people who surrounded him – to commit his crimes.
“With the help of his inner circle and over a period of decades, the defendant hunted children and young women for his own sexual gratification,” the memorandum said. “He continued with his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and now he must be held accountable.” Jane Doe No. 1 cried when she addressed the courtroom and said she believed Kelly would never face justice.
“I know there are R Kelly fans who don’t believe us,” said the woman, who was 17 when she first met Kelly at a concert in September of 1994.
“I once lost hope in our justice system, but you restored my faith, it is an ongoing battle and I no longer live in silence. It is inhuman to endure sexual harassment, sex trafficking, it is in plain sight in the modern day of slavery.”
Kelly’s lawyers argued in a separate memo that a sentence of more than 10 years would be “more than necessary.”
During the trial, which focused on the allegations of six men, prosecutors said Kelly was a serial sexual predator who abused young women, as well as underage girls and boys, for more than two decades.
Prosecutors alleged that he and his crew led a criminal enterprise that recruited and prepared victims for sex, arranging for them to travel to concerts and events across America.
Kelly was also accused of imprisoning victims in hotel rooms or their recording studios when they could eat and use the bathroom and forcing them to follow various “rules”, including demanding They used to call him “Daddy”.
The singer’s lawyer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, tried to portray his accusers as a “group” who tried to try and take advantage of their fame. #MeToo Movement.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges and did not take a stand in his defence.
KellyBest known for the 1996 hit “I Believe I Can Fly”, was considered one of the kings of R&B in the 1990s and 2000s and was widely known for helping to redefine the genre. Credit was given.
but the rise of #Me too Helped to investigate more of their behavior behind the scenes.
“Alive R. Kelly,” a lifetime documentary series Released in 2019 that featured the testimony of multiple accusers, gave him a swift call to face legal consequences.
Following his sentencing, Kelly is scheduled to stand trial in Chicago in August on federal child pornography and obstruction of justice. charge,
He was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008.