By Shukri Osman,
U.S Prosecutors on Wednesday, said through a document filed in anticipation of R. Kelly’s sentence later this month, the R&B artist and “I Believe I Can Fly,” hitmaker, deserves at least 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting women and girls.
In a sex-trafficking trial that was viewed as the pinnacle of the #MeToo movement, a New York City jury found Kelly guilty of racketeering and several other counts last year.
Prosecutors said Kelly’s entourage of managers and aides were running a criminal operation to help the 55-year-old meet ladies (some of them minors) and keep them compliant to his desires.
During the trial, other accusers testified in gruesome detail, stating that Kelly subjected his victims to twisted and cruel whims.
According to prosecutors, Kelly exploited his “fame, money, and celebrity status” to methodically “prey upon youngsters and young women for his own sexual enjoyment.”
“He perpetuated his crimes and dodged punishment for over 30 years and must finally be held accountable,” the prosecution stated.
Kelly’s attorneys claimed that under federal sentencing guidelines, he is only entitled to a maximum of 17 years in jail.
Jurors heard the testimony of a fake marriage arrangement meant to shield Kelly after he felt he had impregnated late R&B star Aaliyah, in 1994, when she was only 15-years-old.
They were married in matching jogging suits, according to witnesses, using a license that fraudulently stated her age as 18; he was 27 at the time.
Kelly composed and produced Aaliyah’s debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number,” in 1994. At the age of 22, she perished in an aircraft disaster in 2001.
Kelly is due in court on June 29.
