*R. Kelly may not have mo’ money, but he’s sure got mo’ money problems. You see, he’s gonna have to come up with funds to handle his legal fees ’cause he’s been saddled with new charges for allegedly paying off witnesses to not testify in his 2008 child pornography trial.
Specifically, prosecutors in Chicago have charged R&B singer R. Kelly with 11 new sex-related counts, including some that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cook County prosecutors filed the new charges against Kelly on Thursday. Among the new charges are four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault by force, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim between the ages of 13 to 16. The charges apparently pertain to a single victim.
The four aggravated criminal sexual assault counts carry maximum terms of 30 years in prison.
Here’s what we reported earlier …
Kelly is being accused of paying off the family of the alleged victim in that case — his goddaughter, according to a TMZ report on Wednesday.
The site also reported that other witnesses were allegedly sent on vacation as the trial played out so they couldn’t be called to the stand. Also, the travel was arranged by members of Kelly’s team.
Of course Kelly was eventually acquitted in the 2008 trial, maily because the victim, who prosecutors claimed was featured in a sex tape, didn’t testify.
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Here’s more from Page Six:
Revelations of his alleged witness tampering emerged in federal grand jury testimony in the Northern District of Illinois, where prosecutors are building a case against Kelly.
He is also under two separate probes in New York and faces charges in Chicago for allegedly sexually abusing three underage girls and one woman.
Grand jurors are also looking into allegations that Kelly and his team tried to sway the outcome of the 2008 trial through witness intimidation and threats of bodily harm.
He could face obstruction of justice charges.
To say this doesn’t look good for Kelz is an understatement when you factor in the fact that his accusers have testified that Kelly’s crew paid for their travel across state lines for the purpose of sex while they were underage, sources directly connected to the case told TMZ.
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