On June 26, 2019, singer R. Kelly (C) shows up for a hearing before Judge Laurence Flood at the Leighton Criminal Court Complex.
A DVD reportedly depicting Kelly having sex with a victim who was underage on June 26, 2019, was provided by the prosecution. E. JASON WAMBSGANS/AFP via GETTY IMAGES
Chicago, Illinois .In Chicago on Thursday, R. Kelly was found guilty of federal child pornography charges and received just one more year in prison. In September of last year, a federal jury found the disgraced singer guilty on six of 13 counts, including three counts each of creating child pornography and recruiting minors for illicit sexual activity.
Kelly was sentenced to an additional year in jail on top of the 30-year term he already has to serve after being found guilty in New York in 2021 of sexually exploiting a child, racketeering, bribery, and sex trafficking. (The singer is currently contesting the judgement from New York.)Leinenweber officially sentenced Kelly to 20 years in prison, of which 19 years would be served concurrently with the New York term and the last year would be served for the Chicago crimes.
Federal prosecutors asked Judge Harry Leinenweber earlier this month to sentence Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, to an additional 25 years in prison, which is more time than recommended by sentencing guidelines, and to have him serve that time after completing his sentence in the New York case, where he is already serving 30 years.
RKelly’s Attorney Jennifer Bonjean claimed in a document that her client should receive a sentence of 10 years, which is at the lower end of the recommended range. The judge earlier this month rejected applications that his counsel had submitted to have the conviction overturned or to have a new trial ordered for him. At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Bonjean suggested a 14-year sentence that, most critically, ran parallel with his imprisonment in New York. Bonjean recognised that Kelly would effectively spend his entire life in prison if he received consecutive sentences. She said to the judge, “Black guys with diabetes do not live into their 80s in prison.”
Kelly’s age at the conclusion of his New York sentence would be taken into consideration when Leinenweber, who is in his 80s, handed down the sentence in Chicago. He also said that older people are more worried about their futures compared to young girls, men are more concerned about their prostate and arthritis. The now-56-year-old Kelly will be in his mid-80s when he is released from prison if he completes his 31-year term.
