R. Kelly, 56, was today sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom following his conviction last year on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor.
The R&B singer is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court.
US District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber said in court Thursday, Feb. 23, 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, he said.
Kelly was convicted in September on three counts of production of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. A motion for a new trial was denied last week.
Prosecutors had asked for a 25-year sentence to be served once his other 30-year prison sentence is complete.
“Robert Kelly is a serial sexual predator who, over the course of many years, specifically targeted young girls and went to great lengths to conceal his abuse of Jane and other minor victims,” prosecutors said in a filing. “To this day, and even following the jury verdict against him, Kelly refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes.”
The defense said in its filing that Kelly is already serving a “de facto life sentence” and asked for any sentence be served at the same time as his 30-year sentence in the New York case.
“In the unlikely event that Kelly was to survive his 30-year sentence, there is no reason to believe he would reoffend as a geriatric in his mid-80s,” his attorneys wrote. “The overwhelming majority of Kelly’s criminal conduct was committed a quarter century ago.”
The sentencing hearing is the culmination of nearly three decades of allegations Kelly had sexually abused underage girls.