R. Kelly avoids lengthy addition to 30-year prison sentence

CHICAGO — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced singer R. Kelly to 20 years in prison for his allegations of child pornography and seducing minors for sex, but said he would serve almost the entire sentence at the same time as the 30-year sentence handed down most recently. year on racketeering charges.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber also ordered Kelly to serve one year in prison following his New York conviction.

The central issue at the sentencing in Kelly’s hometown of Chicago was whether Leinenweber would order the 56-year-old man to serve his sentence at the same time as, or only after, serving time in New York for racketeering and human trafficking. sexual exploitation in 2021. The latter would be tantamount to life imprisonment.

The prosecutor’s office admitted that the long term, served only after the verdict in New York, could negate any chance of Kelly ever getting out of jail alive. This is what they asked for, citing his crimes against children and lack of remorse.

However, with Thursday’s verdict, Kelly will serve no more than 31 years. This means that he will be eligible for release at around the age of 80, which gives him some hope that one day he will get out of prison alive.

THIS IS A BIG NEWS UPDATE. The earlier history of the AP follows below.

R. Kelly is set to find out if he will spend the rest of his life in prison when a federal judge sentences him Thursday on charges of child pornography and sexual abuse of minors.

Prosecutors have asked a judge overseeing the sentencing in Kelly’s hometown of Chicago to order him to serve a 25-year sentence only after he completes a 30-year sentence given last year in New York City for racketeering and sex trafficking. operation.

Thus, the 56-year-old Grammy Award winner will be eligible for an exemption in 2066, a year before his 100th birthday. The defense wants a sentence of about 10 years with simultaneous serving.

If Judge Harry Leinenweber does allow Kelly to serve his new sentence at the same time as his New York sentence, he should be eligible for release when he is about 80, giving him some hope that he will one day resume life outside of prison.

Leinenweber said at the start of the hearing that he disagreed with the government’s contention that Kelly used fear to woo underage girls for sex.

“The whole (government) theory of withdrawal was kind of the opposite of fear of bodily harm,” the judge told the court. “It was the fear of lost love, lost affections (from Kelly).” … It just doesn’t seem to me that it rises to the fear of bodily injury.”

Prosecutors say Kelly’s crimes against children and his lack of remorse warrant a harsher sentence.

The calm Kelly spoke briefly at the start of the hearing when the judge asked him if he had reviewed key submission documents for any inaccuracies.

“Your Honor, I have discussed this with my attorney,” Kelly said. “I’m just relying on my lawyer for this.”

Two of Kelly’s accusers asked the judge to punish him severely.

In a statement read aloud in court, the woman, who testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” said she had lost her early aspirations to become a singer and her hopes for a fulfilling relationship.

“I lost my dreams because of Robert Kelly,” the statement said. “I will never get back what I lost to Robert Kelly. … “Robert scarred me forever.”

The woman was a key witness for prosecutors during Kelly’s trial; four of his beliefs are connected to her.

“When a pedophile took your virginity at 14…your life will never be yours,” Jane said in a statement.

Another accuser, who used the pseudonym “Nia”, was present at the hearing and addressed Kelly directly in court. Speaking forcefully, with her voice trembling, Nia said that Kelly repeatedly sought out her perceived flaws while he was abusing her.

“Now you’re here…because there’s something wrong with you,” she said. “You can’t harm children anymore.”

Last year, a jury in Chicago convicted Kelly on six of 13 counts: three for producing child pornography and three for sexually engaging minors.

Kelly emerged from poverty in Chicago to become one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. Known for his hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and sex-filled songs like “Bump n’ Grind”, he sold millions of albums even after allegations of girl abuse circulated publicly in the 1990s.

At the filing of the documents, prosecutors described Kelly as a “serial sex predator” who used his fame and fortune to lure, sexually abuse and then dispose of star-struck fans.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ginnis Apenteng on Thursday urged the judge to grant a longer sentence and keep Kelly in jail “for the rest of his life.”

According to her, Kelly’s child abuse was even worse because he “perpetuated” his abuse by filming the victims, including Jane. She told the court that Kelly “used Jane as a sexual prop, a thing” to produce pornographic videos.

At a preliminary hearing, Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean accused prosecutors of offering “embellished narrative” in an attempt to get the judge to join what she called “the government’s murderous campaign to make Kelly a symbol of the #MeToo movement.”

Bonjean said that Kelly had suffered enough, including financially. She said he was once worth close to $1 billion, but now he is “poor.”

In court on Thursday, Bonjean said Kelly would be lucky if he survived his 30-year sentence in New York alone. Giving him a 25-year sentence on top of that is “too much, it’s symbolic,” she said. “Why? Because it’s R. Kelly.”

She also argued that Kelly’s silence should not be seen as a lack of remorse.

She said that while she advised Kelly not to speak because he continues to challenge his convictions and could face other lawsuits, “he would, really would.”