R. Kelly’s Lawyer refutes the claims
R. Kelly, the Grammy-winning singer and legendary figure of ’90s pop success, was sentenced to 30 years in jail on Wednesday for decades of sexual abuse of women, young girls, and boys.
After listening to testimonials from seven victims during an hour-long trial in federal court in Brooklyn, US District Judge Ann Donnelly handed down the harsh sentence. The deceased “I Believe I Can Fly” singer remained silent.
R Kelly’s “fiancée” has asserted that she is expecting his child, a claim that is refuted by his attorney
R Kelly’s victim claims she is expecting his child and that she and the musician are engaged. Kelly’s long-time girlfriend, Joycelyn Savage, 26, was found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering and received a 30-year prison term.
At the age of 17, Savage left her parents’ home and moved in with the disgraced singer in Chicago to pursue a singing career. By the time she was 19, she had lost connection with her family and had broken ties with them.
Jovante Cunningham, who also testified at Kelly’s trial, stated, speaking in a steady voice and glaring at him, “With every addition of a new victim, you rose in evil.” She reprimanded R. Kelly, saying, “You exploited your fame and authority to nurture and coach juvenile boys and girls for your own sexual enjoyment.
He was informed by another victim, “You forced me to do things that crushed my spirit. You literally brought me to the point where I wanted to die.
She turned to R. Kelly, who didn’t look up, and said, “Do you remember that.” The Mann Act, which prohibits the interstate transportation of women and girls for “immoral purposes,” and racketeering were among the nine accusations against Kelly, 55, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly. Kelly was found guilty on all nine offenses.
Lizzette Martinez, who said she was made into a “sex slave” after meeting the artist at a Florida mall when she was 17, told reporters at a news conference, “I personally don’t think it’s enough, but I’m delighted with it.”
Due to ongoing lawsuits, Kelly, who was dressed in tan prison attire, dark-rimmed glasses, and a mask, chose not to speak during the hearing.
In its request for a sentence of more than 25 years, the prosecution painted him as a decades-long serial predator who took advantage of his notoriety to take advantage of his victims.
The crimes
R. Kelly preyed on the young, the weak, and the vulnerable using his fame, wealth, and enablers. While many people turned a blind eye, he used the voiceless for his own sexual gratification, according to US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace.
He has finally and rightfully been held accountable for his decades-long abuse, exploitation, and degradation of minors and other vulnerable young people with today’s sentencing, according to the statement.
The judge told R. Kelly, “These victims were expendable to you and you taught them that love equals servitude, brutality, and humiliation,” as she gave him what is essentially a life sentence.
“Sex is not at issue in this case. It’s about cruelty, violence, and domination,” Donnelly claimed. “These acts were calculated, meticulously planned, and consistently carried out for nearly 25 years.”
Kelly “takes pleasure in humiliating me,” according to Cunningham, a backup dancer who testified under the alias “Angela” during Kelly’s trial last autumn, and told him, “You are sleazy, you are nasty, and you are self-serving.”
We reclaim our names today. We are no longer the prey we once were,” she added, causing R. Kelly to cast a quick glance her way.
According to one story, Kelly wed the singer Aaliyah in 1994 because he thought she was expecting. She explained how Kelly would wait until he got home from basketball games with his buddies before making her have oral sex with him. As Doe was speaking, the wicked crooner decided to speak with his lawyers, which caused her to pause, raise her hand, and apologize. I don’t want to disturb him in his thought process.
Then she added that now it was your his to have his freedom stripped from him. “I hope you spend the rest of your life in prison,” she concluded.
Jerhonda Pace, who said she started a relationship with the artist while she was underage, was one of the many witnesses at the trial. She testified in court that once, when he was upset with her, he slapped her and forced her to engage in oral sex with him.
Another witness claimed Kelly married Aaliyah in 1994 in violation of the law out of fear for her unborn child and the idea that doing so would prevent her from testifying against him and protect him from prosecution for having sex with a minor. According to testimony, Aaliyah, who perished in a plane crash in 2001, had a fake ID that Kelly’s crew allegedly obtained by paying off a government official.
The former R&B star’s attorneys requested a light sentence of 10 years or less, arguing that he had experienced sexual abuse as a child and as an adult.
The judge should take into account Kelly’s sexual abuse by a family member and a former landlord, according to attorney Jennifer Bonjean, who most recently represented disgraced actor and comedian Bill Cosby.
The sexual assault Kelly endured at the hands of a family member and a former landlord, according to attorney Jennifer Bonjean, should be taken into account as “a mitigating factor” in the sentence. Reuters
The multi-platinum selling celebrity also has a rough, destitute background that involved his being shot by a stray. He is also “functionally illiterate.”
22 bullets and seeing a childhood friend drown after being pushed into a river.
According to Bonjean, “[Kelly] has been painted by the authorities and the media as a one-dimensional antagonist, devoid of any degree of humanity or decency.” Kelly’s past and personality, which this Court is tasked with assessing, “show that he is not an evil monster but a complex (unquestionably flawed) human-being who endured immense problems in childhood that molded his adult life.”
She said he intended to file an appeal, telling reporters following the court on Wednesday that “he has remorse. He feels depressed.”
Joycelyn Savage, Kelly’s fiancée, was one among the people who provided letters of support for the Grammy winner. Savage said that she was not the singer’s victim and praised their relationship as “wonderful.”
R. Kelly’s fiancée, Joycelyn Savage, lent her support to the musician. She said that The Robert she is familiar with is incredibly kind and compassionate. Ultimately, Savage stated in her letter to the judge that He has always made sure that she was taken care of, and any other ladies he was with as well. Robert and I are very much in love, so the government’s creation of the narrative that I’m a victim hurts my heart.
Prosecutors stated that R. Kelly appeared to assume he was above the law in their memo to the judge regarding sentencing.
Indeed, they claimed that R. Kelly’s decades of criminal activity “appears to have been fuelled by narcissism and a notion that his musical prowess exempted him of any need to affirm his behaviour to the mechanisms of the law, no matter how predatory, destructive, embarrassing or abusive to others -”
Although R. Kelly didn’t testify during the trial, she famously lost it in a crazy 2019 interview with CBS News’ Gayle King. The interview followed the scathing documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” which detailed a number of the accusations against him. He defended himself and refuted claims that he had effectively held a lady captive in a cult.
He said, “How dumb would it be for R. Kelly to hold somebody, with all I’ve been through, in my way, way past.”
In addition to federal accusations in Illinois for obstruction and pornography, R. Kelly is still facing charges in Minnesota for prostitution with a juvenile. On August 15, his federal trial in Chicago is scheduled to start.
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