It appears that R. Kelly won’t be taking the orange jumpsuit off any time soon.
A US judge on Thursday, February 23, handed American R&B singer R. Kelly a 20-year prison term for child pornography and other charges, but he will serve most of it simultaneously with a previous sentence.
Judge Harry D. Leinenweber said in court on Thursday, February 23, 2023, that 19 years of the 20-year prison sentence would be served concurrently, or at the same time as his other sentence. One year would be served consecutively, or after that sentence is complete.
This means that Kelly, who is currently 56 years old, could be released from prison when he is approximately 80 years old.
R.Kelly’s Previous Jail Sentence
Kelly, 56, is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court.
The singer was convicted in September 2022 on six of the 13 counts alleged in the Chicago trial: three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor.
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Prior to the sentence, attorney Christopher Brown read from a statement given by one of Kelly’s victims, identified as “Jane.”
“I have lost my dignity due to Robert Kelly.”
She continued: “I have lost my dreams due to Robert Kelly.
“I have lost my teenage years to Robert Kelly.”
She wrote that Kelly was “abusive and dominating” and made her suicidal.
“I will forever be known as the girl R. Kelly peed on,” Jane said through her lawyer, referring to the infamous sex tape video shown during his trial, which showed Kelly urinating on a victim.
The federal conviction in Chicago came one year after Kelly was convicted in New York of systematically recruiting teenagers and women for sex.
That verdict was widely regarded as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement, as it was the first major sex abuse trial in which the majority of the accusers were black women.
It was also the first time Kelly faced criminal consequences for the abuse he was rumored for decades to have inflicted on women and children.
