Kelly, 55, was convicted of sexually abusing and blackmail last September after a nearly six-week trial that augmented the charges against Grammy-winning singer “I Believe I Can Fly” since the early 2000s. .
Judge Ann M. Donnelly handed down Kelly’s sentence in Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday, despite defense attorneys seeking a sentence of 10 years or less. Prosecutors had asked for at least 25 years.
Judge Donnelly told Kelly that he had created “a trace of broken lives”, adding that “the most experienced investigators will not forget the horror suffered by your victims”.
“These crimes have been carefully calculated and planned and carried out regularly for almost 25 years,” he said. “You taught them that love is slavery and violence.”
Kelly, who declined to speak on Wednesday, learned of his fate after some of his accusers told the court, through tears and anger, that he had robbed them and misled his fans. He was also fined $ 100,000.
Kelly is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after his trial. It has not been revealed where Kelly would serve his sentence.
The fallen R&B star R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually abusing and abusing young girls as a judge told him “the public must be protected”.
R Kelly and his lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, left, during the hearing of his sentence in the federal court, Wednesday, June 29, 2022, in New York
Breon S. Peace, the US attorney in Brooklyn, reacted after the conviction, saying it was a “significant result for all the victims of R. Kelly”. “He continued to commit his crimes for almost 30 years and avoided punishment – until today.”
“It’s not predatory,” Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean told a news conference following the out-of-court hearing.
“He has regrets and he is sad,” Bonjean said. “He disagrees with the descriptions that have been given to him.”
Bonjean, who added that Kelly “was prepared for this”, said they intended to appeal, saying “30 years in prison is like life imprisonment for him”.
The sentence closes a slow-moving drop for Kelly, who was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums even after allegations of abuse of young girls that went public in the 1990s.
The widespread outrage over Kelly’s sexual harassment did not come before the #MeToo report, reaching a crescendo following the release of the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”.
Kelly’s lawyers argued that he should not have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood “involving severe, prolonged child sexual abuse, poverty and violence”.
“As an adult with ‘lack of literacy’, the star has repeatedly been deceived and financially abused, often by the people he paid to protect him,” his lawyers said.
Allegations that Kelly abused young girls began to circulate in public in the 1990s. A court there acquitted him in 2008 and settled the lawsuit.
All this time, Kelly has continued to sell millions of albums.
Earlier Wednesday, several women who testified against Kelly during the trial spoke of how he had promised to guide them and help them earn a star, only to subject them to humiliating sexual abuse and bodily harm. Many said the abuse led to persistent mental health problems.
Kitti Jones wipes her tears as she testified Wednesday at the hearing of R Kelly’s conviction and said that Kelly did things to her that “she intends to take to my grave”.
Kelly learned of his fate after his accusers, including Kitty Jones, told the court, through tears and anger, that he had robbed them and misled his fans.
The Brooklyn federal court convicted him after hearing that he used the company of his managers and assistants to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation that prosecutors said was tantamount to a criminal operation.
Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, used his “reputation, money and popularity” to “grab children and young women for his own sexual gratification,” prosecutors wrote in a court statement earlier this month.
Several accusers testified that Kelly subjected them to perverted and sadistic whims when they were minors.
R Kelly faces several of his defendants during a hearing on federal sex trafficking conviction in Brooklyn Federal Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Seven of them made impact statements before being convicted.
One of the victims, Angela, stood in court, looked directly at Kelly and called him “Pied Piper” who “lured children with his money and his fame”.
“With every addition of a new victim, you grow into evil,” he said. “You used your reputation and power to beautify and educate underage boys and girls for your own sexual satisfaction.”
“Today we are claiming our names again,” he said. “We are no longer the victims we once were.”
“I pray God will reach your soul,” he said, as Kelly looked at her for a moment before lowering his eyes back to the table where he was sitting.
The second victim, who spoke in court on Wednesday, said he never knew a concert in September 1994 would change her life forever.
Addie, who has previously testified in Kelly’s case but never gave her name, took several breaths before reading her statement Wednesday.
“I never knew that going to that concert in September 1994 would change me forever,” he said.
Addie said she was a fan of singer Aaliyah. Aaliyah, whom R Kelly married when he was 15, died in a plane crash at the age of 22.
Addie, who testified in Kelly’s case but never gave her name, took several breaths before reading her statement Wednesday.
Addie says Kelly sexually assaulted her on the night of his concert and never saw him again until the trial, adding that she regrets being silent for decades.
Addie says that Kelly sexually assaulted her on the night of his concert and did not see him again until the trial.
For decades, she remained silent because “it was a time of silence,” she said, something she says she regrets now.
“The last four years have been a rude awakening to how my silence has hurt others.”
IN TRIAL IN 2021: Witness “Angela”, a backup dancer of R. Kelly, testified during his trial for sexual abuse last year. At his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Angela returned to make an impact statement
Lizette Martinez, one of the women appearing in the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”, made a statement at the hearing of R. Kelly’s conviction in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Photo: Martinez speaking at the 2019 screening
Jones claims that in March of that year Kelly brought another of his girlfriends where he was holding her and forced her to have oral sex with Jones. She claims at the time that Kelly also started forcing her to have sex with other women – and says he would threaten her if he said no
During Kelly’s sentencing on Wednesday, one of the women appearing in the documentaries, Lizette Martinez, spoke in court with lawyer Gloria Allred by her side.
“January 1995 finally changed me forever,” Martinez said, referring to the day she met Kelly at a mall.
Martinez, 17, was an aspiring singer and Kelly had promised to guide her. But Martinez says he started abusing her two months after they met.
“I was left in shock, confusion and tears,” he said.
“I do not know how to put a price on everything I have gone through. I am now 45, a mother and I am struggling with mental health “.
Kelly did not look at Kelly Martinez as she spoke.
“Robert, you ruined the lives of so many people,” she told him.
A fourth victim, identified as Jane Doe No. 2, then spoke in court, describing in detail how a sweaty Kelly would make her have oral sex after he had returned from basketball.
“I felt special because someone who was special in the world was interested in me,” he said.
As she continued her testimony, Kelly began talking to his lawyers, urging the witness to stop and hold her hand.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking at Kelly. “I do not want to interrupt his conversation.”
“No price is too high to pay for your happiness,” he said. “I hope you go to jail for the rest of your life.”
The next woman, Kitti Jones, said that Kelly did things to her that “she intends to take to my grave”.
A fifth woman who spoke, Kitti Jones, said Kelly did things she “intends to take to my grave”.
“Many of us were waiting for this day to come,” he added.
The next woman to testify, identified only as Faith, spoke directly to Kelly, with her father by her side.
“I hope you forgive yourself,” he said as he began to cry. “I forgive myself.”
Her father then went to court.
“I did not come here to hit Mr. Kelly,” he said. “I want to ask you, Mr. Kelly, to look at me, man to man, father to father. Put yourself in my place. I have definitely put myself in your place. “
Sonja, also known as Jane Doe No. 3, was the last woman to speak Wednesday before the court adjourned for lunch.
He had previously testified that he was imprisoned and raped at Kelly’s home in Olympia Fields, Ill., In 2003.
Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, he had sent a statement to the court via email that he did not want to read in its entirety.
But he left the field with a few strong words.
“I was afraid for my life,” she said, recalling how Kelly would make people follow her in every move she has made over the years.
“I hope and pray to God that we can all be healed,” he said.
R Kelly’s sisters Cassandra and Lisa arrived in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday for a hearing on the R&B star. The third…
