R. Kelly receives another 20 years in prison on charges of sexual crimes, but will not serve them consecutively.
After a 30-year sentence in New York on charges of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and racketeering, R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in Chicago on Thursday for child pornography and involving minors in sexual relations. However, Kelly will serve all of these years at the same time, except for one; serving a sentence in Chicago only after serving a 30-year sentence in New York would be tantamount to life imprisonment.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber sentenced Kelly to one year in prison on charges in Chicago after a racketeering conviction handed down last year in New York. The prosecutor’s office admitted that the long term served after the sentencing in New York could have nullified all Kelly’s chances of getting out of prison alive, and, in fact, that’s what they asked for – lawyers argued that his crimes against minors and lack of remorse justify a more severe punishment. proposal.
However, Thursday’s verdict means that Kelly will serve no more than 31 years, eligible for release at the age of about 80. Kelly was convicted last year in Chicago on six of the 13 counts against him: three counts of producing child pornography and three charges of seducing minors. for sex.
On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeannice Apenteng urged the judge to increase Kelly’s sentence and keep him in prison “for the rest of his life.” Appenteng says Kelly aggravated his abuse of minors by “perpetuating” the abuse by filming his victims to produce pornographic videos.
Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said that Kelly would be lucky if he survived his 30-year term in New York, and to give him another 20 years in a row in addition to this is “unnecessary.” Bonjean claims that Kelly has suffered enough, both personally and financially, that although his fortune was once close to $1 billion, he is “now poor.”
During the preliminary hearing, Bonjean accused prosecutors of providing a “embellished narrative” as part of the government’s “bloodthirsty campaign to make Kelly a symbol of the #MeToo movement.” Bonjean says Kelly’s silence throughout most of the trial should not be seen as a lack of remorse, and that she advised the disgraced singer not to speak out so he wouldn’t face further lawsuits.
