Convicted again
R. Kelly sentenced to another 20 years: “Used mega-star status to get at teenagers”
R. Kelly at a hearing in Chicago in 2019.
© imago images/ZUMA Wire/Antonio Perez
R. Kelly has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The verdict is still a success for the ex-pop star.
Former music star R. Kelly has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Chicago court. Several US media reported unanimously that including the “New York Times”. However, the verdict represents a legal success for Kelly. Because the 56-year-old will only spend an additional year behind bars. The remaining 19 years will count toward the 30-year sentence Kelly was sentenced to in New York in June 2022.
R. Kelly will spend 31 years behind bars
Judge Harry Leinenweber ruled largely against the prosecutor’s request that Kelly serve both sentences consecutively and not mostly simultaneously. “The only way to ensure that [Kelly] will not reoffend, a sentence must be imposed that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life,” prosecutor Jeannice Williams Appenteng explained in the courtroom before the sentencing. Kelly also showed no remorse for his actions in the trial Defense argued that the ex-pop star “is likely to die in prison either way.”
In the Chicago trial last September, Kelly was found guilty of preparing child pornography and having sex with minors, including his goddaughter, who was 14 at the time. He was also convicted in the previous trial in New York in connection with allegations that he allegedly exploited and abused minors. The New York Attorney’s Office had explained according to “Billboard”.: “Put simply, the defendant’s crimes were calculated, methodical, and part of a longstanding pattern of using his megastar platform and deep network to gain access to, and then exploit, teenagers, many of whom were particularly vulnerable for his personal gain and sexual gratification”.