Thursday, March 28, 2024

Feds Want R. Kelly to Spend At Least 25 Years in Prison

R. Kelly (orange jail jumpsuit)
R. Kelly

*Federal prosecutors in New York want R. Kelly to spend more than 25 years in prison after a Brooklyn jury found the R&B singer guilty of racketeering at a sex-trafficking trial last year. 

In their filing this week, prosecutors cited Kelly’s “decades of crime” sexually abusing women and girls and his “callous disregard for the very real effects that his crimes had on his victims,” according to a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday, per CNN. They also argue that his actions were fueled by a belief that his “musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct — no matter how predatory, harmful, humiliating or abusive to others — to the strictures of the law.”

“While the government doubts that the defendant will be deterred, a lengthy sentence of imprisonment will serve to deter others — including those with wealth, fame and the outsized power such status brings — from engaging in similar crimes,” the memorandum said.

“This is particularly so given the high-profile nature of the defendant and the likelihood that the length of his sentence will be widely publicized,” it added.

READ MORE: R. Kelly and Brooklyn Subway Shooter Frank James Bond in Jail

 R. Kelly /Getty

Kelly used his “fame, money and popularity” to systematically “prey upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification,” prosecutors wrote in the filing, per MSN.

“He continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account,” prosecutors wrote.

We previously reported that during his Brooklyn trial, prosecutors accused the singer (real name: Robert Sylvester Kelly) of directing his employees to procure women for sex and sexually abusing numerous women over the span of nearly 25 years.

In opening statements, Assistant US Attorney Maria Cruz Melendez, the lead prosecutor in the case, blasted him as a “predator” who “used his money, his clout, and his public persona to hide his crimes in plain sight.”

Over several weeks, prosecutors brought more than 40 witnesses to testify about Kelly. The witnesses included women and men who described how Kelly directed them to have sex with him and each other, and how the singer obsessively took videos of every sexual encounter.

R. Kelly is expected to be sentenced on June 29 in the Eastern District of New York.

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