R. Kelly Found Guilty of Racketeering and Sex Trafficking
R. Kelly has been found guilty of racketeering by a federal jury in Brooklyn today, according to the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. The racketeering charge comprised 12 individual criminal acts, according to the Tribune. Kelly was also found guilty of eight violations of the Mann Act, involving the transportation of a victim across state lines for criminal sexual activity, according to the reports. The singer is facing decades in prison and will be sentenced on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.
Kelly was found guilty of all the charges against him. The singer was first indicted in July 2019, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges last year. His trial began on August 18, with the prosecution presenting testimony from 45 witnesses over a span of nearly three weeks. The jury, which consisted of seven men and five women, began deliberating on September 24.
R. Kelly has been in custody since his arrest outside his home in Chicago on July 11, 2019. He is still facing federal child pornography and obstruction charges in Illinois, where a trial will be scheduled now that the New York proceedings have ended. He’s also awaiting trial on other state-level sexual misconduct charges in Minnesota and Illinois. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges against him (although in Minnesota, his legal team was a no-show), and he has consistently maintained his innocence of any alleged sexual misconduct throughout the decades. And, in 2008, Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges.
Read Pitchfork’s pre-verdict recap of the trial, “Where R. Kelly’s Sex Crimes Trial Stands Ahead of New York Verdict.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support:
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
http://www.rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Crisis Text Line
http://www.facebook.com/crisistextline (chat support)
SMS: Text “HERE” to 741-741
If you or someone you know have been affected by domestic abuse, we encourage you to reach out:
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
http://thehotline.org
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)