R-Kelly Sentenced To 30 Years In Jail For Sex Trafficking

Robert Sylvester Kelly PKA R Kelly, 55, has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. A Brooklyn federal court jury last fall found Kelly, 55, guilty of racketeering and other counts at a trial that was seen as a signature moment in the #MeToo movement.  

Kelly has been detained at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his trial. It has not been revealed where Kelly would spend his sentence.

He is still set to stand trial in Chicago on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice. He also faces charges in Minnesota and federal charges of pornography and obstruction in Illinois. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly determined that federal guidelines allowed for a sentence of up to life in prison. Kelly’s lawyers sought 10 years or less.

They argued in court papers he should get a break in part because he ‘experienced a traumatic childhood involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence.’ The Brooklyn federal court jury convicted him after hearing that he used his entourage of managers and aides to meet girls and keep them obedient, an operation that prosecutors said amounted to a criminal enterprise.