R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Nineteen of the years from this sentence will be served along with his New York sentence.
CHICAGO — R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Chicago.
Nineteen of the years from this sentence will be served along with his New York sentence, which means he will spend an additional year in prison.
Kelly is being sentenced on his convictions of child pornography and enticement in Chicago.
He was convicted in September on three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.
Prosecutors were recommending Kelly serve 25 more years, consecutively to his New York sentence. They said he is a sexual predator who used his fame and wealth to abuse his victims and has shown no remorse.
Kelly’s lawyer has asked for a sentence of 10 years, serving it at the same time as his New York sentence. The lawyer added Kelly’s own abuse as a child justifies leniency.
The federal trial in Chicago last September was based on allegations from five minors who prosecutors allege were abused by Kelly in the late 1990s by making explicit videos with four of them.
One of the witnesses in the trial, a 37-year-old woman, spoke in federal court under the pseudonym Jane and testified Kelly began engaging in sex acts with her when she was 14 and had sex with her starting when she was 15.
