A federal jury has found R. Kelly guilty of racketeering in his sex trafficking case in New York, as reported by the New York Times and Chicago Tribute reporter Jason Meiser. Kelly is currently facing up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering charge alone.
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Kelly was charged with one count of racketeering based on sexual exploitation of children, eight violations of the sex-trafficking statute, the Mann Act, as well as kidnapping and forced labor. The jury handed down the verdict around 3:00 p.m. on Monday. The jury determined Kelly was guilty of all charges. After being found guilty of all counts, Kelly is facing a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison.
The jury found that the evidence presented in the trial proved R. Kelly served as the ringleader of a sex trafficking scheme that involved sexual abuse and recruiting underage girls and young women for over 20 years. Since the trial’s beginnings in August, 45 witnesses, including underaged men and women, testified against the singer.
With the New York trial coming to an end, a trial will now be scheduled for federal child pornography and obstruction charges in Illinois. Kelly also has state charges filed against him in Illinois, as well as Minnesota, though he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on any more updates regarding R. Kelly’s trial.