R&B Star R. Kelly Found Guilty on All Charges and Faces Life in Prison

R. Kelly’s trial on the nine counts against him is undoubtedly a major milestone in the Me Too campaign. Both for black women and for the music industry, signaling that justice has finally been served. Kelly’s arrest was a stunning setback for a guy who was previously one of R&B’s biggest talents. He followed the first lawsuit of the Me Too era, in which the vast majority of victims were black women.

But after all these years, the last justice is serving now. After decades of escaping criminal responsibility for multiple allegations of misconduct with young women and children. R. Kelly, the R&B singer famous for his song ‘I Believe I Can Fly,’ pleads guilty Monday in a sex trafficking lawsuit.

Just on the second day of the trial, a panel of seven men and five women convicted Kelly. 54, criminally responsible for the nine charges, related to organized crime. Kelly stood still with her eyes downcast as the decision was announced in federal court in Brooklyn, wearing a face mask.

Evidence against R. Kelly

Prosecutors relied heavily on data available directly from R. Kelly to charge him. According to Ryan Chabot, the lead federal investigator in the investigation. Kelly obsessively gathered communication notes and personal letters from the women he connected with, many of whom were minors. Chabot said he reviewed material found at the musician’s Chicago residence and storage locker after numerous inspections.

However, the decision has raised a crucial question: Victims have claimed that the musician’s mistreatment began in the early 1990s.

R. Kelly will be jailed by the same federal judge who presided over his conspiracy and sex trafficking trials in brooklyn on May 4 at 10 am Mr. Kelly, 54, faces a sentence of up to ten years in prison.

The next few months will be hectic. Lawyers for Mr. Kelly may file motions to reverse the decision in the coming weeks. R. Kelly also faces charges in at least 2 other jurisdictions. Involving federal child pornography charges as well as accusations of disruption in Chicago. That case has been delayed many times, with no new deadline set. A court date has been official for October 20 in that matter.

Why did justice take so long?

Along with him, the singer had a community of supporters. He used the direct “buy or blackmail” tactic.

According to the authorities, there is a “compensation machine”. Giving proof of Kelly’s payments to women making accusations in exchange for her silence.

In closing statements, one prosecutor, Elizabeth Geddes, claimed that R. Kelly “employed his subordinates to threaten people and seek retaliation.” Attempting to blackmail victims with nude photos of themselves.

Kelly was also charged with bribing eyewitnesses. She just didn’t cooperate with the police in the lead up to her 2008 case. And she’s convicted by the justice department. They said the musician warned several bystanders that if they continued, they would face “real assault.”