R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced for his sexual assault conviction on Wednesday, and many people in the country and entertainment industry shared their thoughts. Always polarizing and controversial, Louisiana rapper Boosie gave his take on the 30-year sentence. Boosie took to his Instagram page to share how he felt about R. Kelly receiving a […]
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R. Kelly has been found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering in a federal trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the judge in the case apparently wants to take more proactive steps to keep Kelly from backsliding upon his release. In addition to the long prison sentence, Judge Ann M. Donnelly has ordered R. Kelly to receive treatment for “an unspecified sexual disorder,” according to TMZ.
Additionally, after his release, Kelly must avoid all contact with minors unless the minor’s family member is present or in a therapeutic setting with a responsible adult chaperone. Finally, Kelly faces five years of supervised release at the end of his prison sentence. Prosecutors originally recommended more than 25 years of prison for the disgraced singer due to the threat they feel he presents, so Judge Donnelly has certainly gone above and beyond.
US attorneys likely believed that such a sentence is warranted because of both the evidence that came to light during the trial and the decades of alleged misconduct in which Kelly engaged according to witnesses. While his 1994 wedding to a then-17-year-old Aaliyah was widely-known, in the years since, Kelly was accused of child pornography and keeping women and girls in a “sex cult,” manipulating or outright abusing them to keep them compliant.
Kelly faces another trial on child porn charges in Chicago next month. He plans to appeal his conviction.
On Wednesday, June 29, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Following the verdict, Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said that she plans to appeal the R.I.C.O charge that her client was charged with.
During a post-sentencing press conference, Bonjean spoke about appealing the charge, saying that there was no evidence to support that her client was a part of an enterprise, and called the charge “inappropriate.”
“These were not a RICO act violation,” Bonjean said at the 2:36-minute mark. “These were isolated events that happened many years and the government simply tried to plead around the statute of limitations to bring in a RICO charge, which was inappropriate.”
She continued, saying “all I can tell you is there was no enterprise. There was no enterprise. It was one man with allegations by a number of women, which doesn’t make it an enterprise, and that is why he’s not guilty of racketeering.”
She added that she was “excited” about the appeal, and “confident” that their appeal would persuade the court of appeals to dismiss the charge. She also said that she told Kelly to invoke his 5th amendment right and not take the stand.
You can watch the full press conference below.
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For the first time, R. Kelly in a courtroom was for sentencing. Appearing at a Brooklyn Courthouse, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
According to The New York Times, R. Kelly appeared in front of Judge Ann M. Donnelly wearing black eyeglasses and a khaki shirt. Donnelly presided over Kelly’s trial and addressed each count Kelly was convicted of, including racketeering and violation of the Mann Act, which outlaws interstate transportation of women and girls for “immoral purpose.” R. Kelly sat at the defense table and greeted the judge with “good morning.”
After his sentencing, Judge Donnelly stated, “the public has to be protected from behaviors like this.” R. Kelly declined a statement due to pending litigation. He confirmed his denial to the judge in court.
In a pre-sentencing memo, R. Kelly was stated to use his fame and money to “conceal his crimes.”
“He continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York wrote in the memo.
R. Kelly is represented by Jennifer Bonjean, who also represented Bill Cosby, and asked for a sentence of under 14 years. Bonjean also argued that R. Kelly’s sentence should “not [be] based on inflamed emotions,” but instead on the nature of the charges. During the sentencing, six women testified to the horrors of their experiences with the R&B star. Bonjean also advocated for R. Kelly’s upbringing, citing he was sexually abused as a child and lived in an unstable environment.
R. Kelly is also facing trial in Chicago federal court for child pornography and obstruction charges in August. He is expected to be transferred back to his hometown after sentencing.
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R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to Variety. The R&B star was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York in September of 2021. Kelly was accused of recruiting women and teen girls (and at least one boy) in a sex-trafficking ring throughout the ’90s and 2000s, using his status, money, and connections to violate anti-sex trafficking laws and cover up his crimes. Federal prosecutors had previously recommended a sentence “in excess of 25 years,” believing him to be a continued danger to the public.
The earliest examples of Kelly’s crimes date as far back as 1994, when he illegally married the underaged Aaliyah, allegedly bribing public officials for phony documents saying she was of age. Meanwhile, he went on trial for child pornography in the early 2000s after a videotape emerged depicting Kelly urinating on a young teen girl. When the victim refused to testify, Kelly was acquitted but apparently never reformed, continuing his illegal activities throughout the following decade and a half.
His crimes were once again exposed by the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, in which many of his victims came forward to detail his abuse. With the uptick in campaigns such as “Mute R. Kelly,” his resources for dodging the authorities became scarce; he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking in July 2019. In addition to the federal case brought against him in New York, he faces a separate criminal trial in his home state, Illinois, where he is charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse including more child porn charges. That trial is set to begin in August; Kelly has secured Bill Cosby’s former legal team ahead of the trial and is expected to appeal his New York case with the same team.
Today was sentencing day for R. Kelly as his victims took the stand to testify. The R&B singer has now been officially sentenced. R. Kelly Sentenced After Racketeering and Sex Trafficking Charges R. Kelly was in Brooklyn federal court awaiting to be sentenced. The musician was found guilty in September on eight charges of racketeering […]
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R&B singer R. Kelly will learn his fate in a Brooklyn courtroom, after being found guilty of sex trafficking. Prosecutors say Robert Kelly used his fame and money to prey upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification.
Prosecutors say he should spend at least 25 years in prison. He still faces prostitution charges in Minnesota and federal child porn charges in Illinois.
In other news, a Chicago area fan of R. Kelly is accused of threatening federal prosecutors in New York. Christopher Gunn of Bolingbrook is charged with making threats involving serious bodily injury or death.
READ MORE: R. Kelly’s New York Federal Sentencing For Sex Trafficking Delayed
Authorities say a week after that trial ended, Gunn posted a video on YouTube threatening to “storm” the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn.
The “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number” producer was convicted last September on numerous charges including sex with underage girls and racketeering.
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As outrageous as it sounds considering the laundry list of crimes for which R. Kelly was convicted, the disgraced R&B star still has plenty of hardcore fans — some much harder than others. According to Billboard, one who recently went way out of his way to show his support for Kelly was arrested after threatening federal prosecutors involved in Kelly’s New York case (his Chicago case is still pending). Bolingbrook, Illinois resident Christopher Gunn was arrested Saturday and faces up to five years in prison if he’s convicted.
Appearing in court yesterday, he was detained without bond. A detention hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, and the Department of Justice wants him moved to New York for trial. Gunn allegedly posted a video to his YouTube page flashing a photo of the prosecutors’ Brooklyn office building and sharing his plan to “storm” it. “[I]f you ain’t got the stomach for the shit we bout to do, I’m asking that you just bail out,” he says in the video. Prosecutors say Gunn also accepted payments via Cash App for ammunition, including transactions with messages such as “30 rounds on the haters.”
While there’s plenty of idle talk on social media, it appears that Gunn may have been planning to carry out his threats; a log book from the courthouse where Kelly’s trial was held contains Gunn’s signature on September 3, 2021. Incidentally, there’s no indication that Kelly actually knows Gunn, and there are all kinds of things you can say about that. According to court documents, Gunn is charged with “knowingly and intentionally transmit[ing] in interstate and foreign commerce communications containing threats … that would result in the death or serious bodily injury” of three Assistant US Attorneys who participated in Kelly’s prosecution.
Kelly, meanwhile, awaits sentencing after being found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking, with prosecutors recommending over 25 years in prison under the belief that if released sooner, he’d be up to his old tricks rather than reformed.
