Federal prosecutors are calling for R. Kelly to spend at least 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of racketeering and multiple violations of an anti-sex-trafficking law.
In a memo filed Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and obtained by the New York Post, prosecutors wrote: “In light of the seriousness of the offenses, the need for specific deterrence and the need to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant… the government respectfully submits that a sentence in excess of 25 years is warranted.”
The memo said the Grammy-winning artist used his “fame, money and popularity” to systematically “prey upon children and young women for his own sexual gratification.”
“He continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account,” prosecutors alleged.
Kelly’s lawyers are fighting for the singer-songwriter to receive 17 years under current federal sentencing guidelines, according to published reports.
The “I Believe I Can Fly” artist was found guilty in September for being the ringleader of a scheme that recruited women and underage girls for sex. A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York handed down the verdict, which included guilty counts for racketeering and eight violations of an anti-sex-trafficking law, as previously reported.
The decision came after prosecutors alleged Kelly used his associates to help find girls at tour stops and in restaurants. Several accusers testified in the case about their encounters with the singer.
Kelly, 55, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29. The prolific producer, writer and performer, was previously indicted on Illinois state child pornography charges, but was acquitted on all counts in 2008.
The allegations against him received renewed attention when Lifetime aired its 2019 docuseries Surviving R. Kelly and followed it up with Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning.
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