NEW YORK: Infamous R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for using her fame for sexually abusing young fans, including some who were just children, in a systematic pattern that lasted for decades. Through tears and anger, several of Kelly’s prosecutors told a New York court, as did the singer himself, that he had deceived and deceived them. “You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wanted to die because it made me feel, ”said an unnamed survivor, turning directly to Kelly, who kept his arms crossed and his eyes down. “Do you remember this?” she asked. Kelly, 55, did not make a statement or react when he heard his fine, which included a $ 100,000 fine. He has denied any wrongdoing and plans to appeal his sentence. The Grammy-winning multi-platinum songwriter was found guilty last year of racketeering and sexual trafficking in a trial that gave a voice to prosecutors who had previously wondered if their stories were being ignored because they were black women. The victims are “no longer the victims we once were,” said another of his prosecutors during sentencing. “So far, there has not been a day in my life when I really believed that the judiciary would come for black and brown girls,” she added outside the court. “Kelly’s sentence renews her faith in the legal system. The woman said Kelly was her victim after she went to a concert when she was 17.” I was scared, naive and didn’t know how to handle the situation, “she said. so he didn’t speak at the time. “Silence,” she said, “is a very lonely place.” Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjan, said he was “devastated” by the verdict and saddened by what he heard. “He’s a human being. He feels how other people feel. “The government covers the fall of a slow cadence for Kelly, who is known for her work, including the hit 1996 “I Believe I Can Fly” and the cult classic “Trapped in the Closet”, a story of many parts about sexual betrayal and intrigue, was adored by legions of fans and sold millions of albums, even after publicly Accusations of child abuse began to spread, defeating child pornography allegations in Chicago in 2008 when a jury acquitted him. and #MeToo, reaching a crescendo after the release of the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”. “I hope this verdict serves as a testimony that it doesn’t matter how powerful, rich or famous your abuser may be or how small he makes you feel – justice only hears the truth,” Brooklyn, a U.S. prosecutor in Brooklyn, said Wednesday. . A jury at a federal court in Brooklyn convicted the singer, who was born Robert Sylvester Kelly, after hearing that he used his entourage of managers and assistants to meet with girls and keep them obedient, an operation that prosecutors say is a criminal enterprise. Several prosecutors testify that Kelly subjected them to perverted and sadistic whims when they were minors. Prosecutors allege they were ordered to sign non-disclosure forms and were subjected to threats and punishments, such as violent beatings, if they violated what are called “Robb’s rules.” Some said they believed that the videotapes he shot, on which they had sex, would be used against them if they found out what was happening. According to witnesses, Kelly gave herpes to several prosecutors without revealing that he had STDs, forced a teenager to join him for sex with a naked girl who appeared from under a boxing ring in his garage, and shot a shameful video showing how a victim smears feces on her face as punishment for breaking his rules. “The horrors your victims suffered,” U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly said when convicted. “No price was too high to pay for your happiness.” Lizette Martinez was a 17-year-old ambitious singer when she met Kelly at a mall in Florida. She was promised mentorship, but quickly turned out to be a “sex slave,” she told the court on Wednesday. Asked if Kelly’s 30-year sentence was a sufficient punishment, she paused before answering. “I personally don’t think that’s enough,” she said, “but I’m happy about it.” Evidence of a fraudulent marriage scheme devised to protect Kelly was also presented during the trial, after he feared fertilizing the R&B phenomenon Alia in 1994, when she was only 15. Witnesses said they were were married in appropriate jogging suits, using a license falsely stating her age. as 18; he was 27 at the time. Alia worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number. She died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22. Kelly did not testify during the trial against him, but his lawyers at the time portrayed his accusers as friends and supporters who were not forced to do anything against their will and stayed with him because he enjoyed the benefits of his lifestyle. His current lawyers say he should be sentenced to no more than 10 years in prison because he had a traumatic childhood, “including severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty and violence.” As an adult with “illiterate disabilities,” the star was “repeatedly deceived and financially abused, often by people he paid to protect him,” his lawyers said. The Associated Press does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused unless they go public, as Martinez did. Several women who spoke during Kelly’s sentencing were identified only by their first names or pseudonyms. Kelly has been in jail without bail since 2019. He is still facing child pornography and charges of obstruction of justice in Chicago, where the trial is set to begin on August 15.
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