R. Kelly‘s legal team believes their client deserves a lighter sentence for his child pornography conviction in his Chicago federal trial.
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune on Friday (February 10), the disgraced singer’s attorneys have requested a limit of 11 years on his sentence ahead of the forthcoming sentencing hearing.
Kelly was convicted in September 2022 of three counts of production of child pornography and three counts of child enticement for alleged sexual affairs with three underage girls.
Meanwhile, the “I Believe I Can Fly” hitmaker is already set to serve 30 years in prison after being found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in his New York trial in June 2022. One of his attorneys, Jennifer Bonjean, is looking to get the porn conviction sentence served concurrently with the other sentence.
Bonjean’s argument is that Kelly’s already facing what amounts to a life sentence and is being “punished for things that happened over a quarter century ago.” She also noted that while the sexual abuse the singer experienced as a child doesn’t justify his behavior, she feels it provides context as to his perception of what’s right or wrong with regard to interpersonal sexual activity.
While Kelly’s hometown moves forward with the child pornography charges, Cook County State’s attorney Kim Foxx announced recently that her office is no longer pursuing the state-level sexual abuse charges, which were originally filed in February 2019.
They comprised of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four alleged victims — three of whom were under the age of consent — stemming from alleged incidents that occurred between 1998 and 2010.
Foxx explained that the decision was made due to a reprioritization of their “limited resources and court time.” She also cited Kelly’s 30-year prison sentence, as well as his pending sentencing in Chicago, saying that “justice has been served.”
R. Kelly’s sentencing hearing is set for February 23 at the federal District Court in Chicago.
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