The former R&B singer R. Kelly, who had long escaped criminal penalties despite decades of sexual misconduct allegations, will face sentencing on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court after his conviction last year for commanding a vast scheme to recruit women, as well as underage girls and boys, for sex.
Mr. Kelly, 55, could spend the rest of his life in prison, and federal prosecutors have asked for a sentence “in excess of 25 years.”
In September, Kelly was found guilty of all nine charges. A six-week trial revealed how Kelly used enablers as well as sycophants in order to ensnare and control fans and aspiring artists. He was charged with racketeering as well as violating the Mann Act (anti sextrafficking law).
The sentencing of R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, will begin at 10:30 a.m. Several victims, including some who testified last year, are expected to describe in court how the singer’s abuse affected them.
After declining to testify at his trial, Mr. Kelly may now make public statements. Since the verdict, he has been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
His lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, has argued that the government’s understanding of the appropriate sentencing range is flawed and has asked for a sentence of under 14 years.
Regardless of whom Judge Ann M. Donnelly agrees with, the decision will mark a final stage in Mr. Kelly’s stunning downfall, a collapse that took decades.
In the 1990s, Kelly was first accused of having sex in public with underage girls. His illegal marriage to Aaliyah in 1994, when he was 15, raised questions about his behavior. In 2002, Kelly was charged with child pornography. He was later acquitted in Chicago in 2008.
It was not until the #MeToo movement renewed scrutiny of his conduct that a new wave of charges arrived — and a conviction finally stuck in New York.
At the trial last fall, nine women and two men vividly described Mr. Kelly’s sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Many testified that they were minors at the time Kelly had their first sex encounter.
Federal prosecutors wrote in their sentencing letter that Mr. Kelly has shown no remorse and for decades, “exhibited a callous disregard” for the effects of his abuse on victims. His actions seemed to have been “fueled by narcissism and a belief that his musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct” to the law, they wrote in their argument for his sentence.
“He committed these crimes using his fame and stardom as both a shield, which prevented close scrutiny or condemnation of his actions,” prosecutors wrote. “And a sword, which gave him access to wealth and a network of enablers to facilitate his crimes, and an adoring fan base from which to cull his victims.”
Ms. Bonjean, R. Kelly’s lawyer, filed much of her sentencing arguments to the judge under seal.
She has stated to reporters that she believes that evidence about Kelly’s traumatic childhood is important and that he should serve the mandatory 10-year sentence for racketeering. In a 2016 interview with GQ, Mr. Kelly stated that he was abused sexually by a relative as a child. (The government’s response was also filed under seal.)
At trial, Mr. Kelly’s lawyers sought to frame his accusers as obsessive fans and opportunists who sought financial gain. The jury ultimately believed the prosecution.
“The defendant’s victims aren’t groupies or gold diggers. They’re human beings,” Nadia Shihata, an assistant U.S. attorney, said at the end of the trial. “Daughters, sisters, some are now mothers. And their lives matter.”
Source: NY Times