R. Kelly Asks President Trump To Commute 31-Year Prison Sentence

The 58-year-old singer, born Robert Kelly, has filed a petition for clemency with the Department of Justice, according to records reviewed by USA TODAY.He is currently serving time behind bars in North Carolina for his 2021 and 2022 convictions on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticement. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in federal court in New York in the first case and 20 years in federal court in Chicago in the second. Under the terms of the Chicago sentence, he will serve one additional year after completing the New York sentence, with the remainder running concurrently, leaving him with a combined 31-year prison term.

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After his weekslong trial in Brooklyn in 2021, Kelly was found guilty of leading “a criminal enterprise” from 1994 to 2018, comprised of employees who helped recruit women and underage girls to engage in illegal sexual activity and produce pornography, at times crossing state lines to do so. Additionally, he was accused of bribery, kidnapping, forced labor, producing child pornography and knowingly infecting some victims with a sexually transmitted disease. Kelly’s 2022 Chicago case also ended with a guilty verdict on three counts of child pornography and three counts of child enticement.

Source: USA Today