He was found guilty in September 2021
Nine months after he was found guilty on eight counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering, rapper R Kelly will appear in court again on Wednesday to be sentenced.
The 55-year-old “King of R&B” is set to be sentenced today, June 29, at a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. The hearing is expected to hear emotional testimony from some of his victims before District Judge Ann Donnelly sentences him.
Federal prosecutors have asked for 25 years in prison and said that the Illinois-born musician has a “long and pervasive history of enticing children to engage in sexual activity.”
They wrote: “He lured young girls and boys into his orbit, often through empty or conditioned promises of assistance in developing a career in the entertainment industry or simply by playing into the minors’ understandable desire to meet and spend time with a popular celebrity.”
Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean has requested the minimum sentencing of 10 years in a court filing kept from public view. Bonjean said she submitted it under seal as the document contains sensitive information about Kelly’s own sexual abuse as a child and information that could “implicate others.” More details should be revealed today.
Bonjean also intends to appeal the conviction, having previously said that a Judge’s job is “based on not just retribution, but based on rehabilitation and reasonableness.”
“This mob-justice mentality is not the way to go,” she said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “It’s not good for society and it doesn’t take into account the human being. … No matter how angry people are, R. Kelly is a human being.”
Prosecutors also filed their documents under seal solely because Bonjean did.
Related Links:
- R. Kelly’s sales soared 500 per cent after guilty verdict
- R. Kelly’s lawyer compares him to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr during sex abuse trial
- First man to accuse R Kelly of sexual abuse testifies in court
