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Artist News Legal
R Kelly sentenced to 20 years in relation to Chicago sex abuse conviction
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 24 February 2023
R Kelly was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison in relation to his convictions in a Chicago court last year on three charges of enticing minors to engage in criminal sexual activity and three more linked to him filming that sexual abuse of children.
However, most of that sentence will happen concurrently to the 30 year jail term he is already serving after being found guilty in a New York court of setting up and running a criminal enterprise in order to access and abuse women and teenagers.
Prosecutors in the Chicago case had been pushing for the new jail term to be served following the existing one, which would basically mean that the 56 year old musician would die in prison. However, judge Harry Leinenweber ruled that only one year would need to be served following the 30 year New York sentence.
Among the reasons presented by prosecutors for why Kelly should serve his second jail term after the first was that the former music star has failed to show any remorse for his crimes.
However, his lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean – who strongly argued for concurrent jail terms – said that Kelly’s silence through most of the legal proceedings he has faced in recent years should not be viewed as a lack of remorse.
According to the Associated Press, she told the court that she had advised Kelly to not speak at the latest hearing because he continues to appeal his convictions and could yet face further legal action. But, she added, in terms of Kelly speaking about his two recent trials, “he would like to, he would like to very much”.
