U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday said the multiplatinum R&B singer R. Kelly deserves to spend more than 25 years in prison after being convicted of sex trafficking.
Jennifer Bonjean, a lawyer for Kelly, has said he should spend fewer than 14 years in prison, and will in a filing next Monday explain why his"history and characteristics" justify a shorter sentence.Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces a minimum 10-year term at his June 29 sentencing.
He is among the most prominent people convicted of sexual misbehavior during the #MeToo movement against such conduct by prominent men.Testimony from 45 government witnesses, including several of Kelly's abuse victims, portrayed in often graphic detail an unseemly side to a music career highlighted by the 1996 Grammy-winning smash"I Believe I Can Fly.
"The defendant severely physically and psychologically scarred all of his victims repeatedly and consistently," prosecutors said."The government has little doubt that if afforded an opportunity to offend again, the defendant would."They included the singer Aaliyah, who prosecutors said Kelly fraudulently married when she was 15 to conceal abuse from when she was 12 or 13. Aaliyah died in 2001.
Many of Kelly's accusers were Black, differentiating his conviction from those of comedian Bill Cosby and movie producer Harvey Weinstein since #MeToo began in 2017. Cosby's conviction was overturned last June. Kelly has repeatedly denied sexual abuse accusations. He also faces federal charges in Chicago on child pornography and obstruction, and state charges in Illinois and Minnesota.
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