Attorneys for the disgraced singer and producer R. Kelly have asked a federal judge, governing his Chicago trial, if his musical genius but sexually deviant client could be sentenced to 11 years in prison for his sex crime conviction in the state of Illinois.
Kelly was convicted in 2022 for repeatedly sexually abusing his teenage goddaughter. Not only did he engage in statutory rape decades ago, but he videotaped it. That infamous tape was somehow leaked to the public.
According to the Chicago Tribute, his lead attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in a court filing submitted on Friday, Feb. 10, her client has already been given a 30-year sentencing for his conviction on New York racketeering charges in 2021 and will be in prison for the rest of his life. She would like this additional time, 132 months (the lowest end of federal guidelines).
“Such a sentence punishes Kelly for conduct that is over a quarter-century old while taking into account his individual characteristics that include his own horrific child sexual abuse that shaped him and provides some explanation (not an excuse) for the conduct that underlies his convictions in this case,” Bonjean wrote in the filing.
She continued to say in her 34-page memo to officials that the federal government had an “obsession with ensuring that Kelly dies in prison.”
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber is scheduled on Feb. 23.