American Singer, R. Kelly Found Guilty In Racketeering and S3x Trafficking Case; Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison

American singer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, popularly known as R. Kelly, has been found guilty.

He was standing trial in a racketeering and s3x trafficking case.

The sentence was given to him on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly nine months after he was found guilty on one count of racketeering and eight violations of the Mann Act by a federal jury in Brooklyn.

R. Kelly was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and a $100,000 fine.

Again, he was accused of knowingly infecting some accusers with a sexually transmitted disease, bribery, kidnapping, forced labour and producing child pornography.

Whether he will be able to pay the fine or not was argued in court. The defence said he is “pretty close to indigent” and could not. Prosecutors disagreed, saying money from the sale of some of his music rights and millions of dollars in royalties held by Sony could cover any fine.

In a memo filed on June 8, federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of NY shared their recommendation for Kelly’s sentencing, explaining that they believe there’s more than enough reason to send him away for “in excess of 25 years.”

The prosecutors stated they believed Kelly felt that “his musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct — no matter how predatory, harmful, humiliating or abusive to others — to the strictures of the law.” They cited Kelly’s alleged recordings of child pornography, abuse of women, and continued acts of violence even after he’d been arrested and gone on trial in 2008 as reasoning for their recommendation that the judge put him behind bars until he’s well into his 70s, at least.

“Put simply, [Kelly’s] crimes were calculated, methodical, and part [of] a long-standing pattern of using his platform as a larger-than-life musical persona and his deep network to gain access to teenagers, many of whom were particularly vulnerable, and then to exploit them for his personal gain and sexual gratification,” prosecutors wrote.