R. Kelly’s Sentencing In New York Is Delayed
After being found guilty on nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking back in September, R. Kelly’s May 4 sentencing has been delayed.
According to CBS News, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly approved to reschedule the disgraced singer’s sentencing to June 16 because a pre sentencing report had not been filed until Tuesday (April 5). However, the judge denied the 55-year-old request to schedule the sentencing after August. His attorneys argued an earlier sentencing date would interfere with his constitutional rights against self-incrimination due to his upcoming federal trial in Chicago, which is scheduled to start Aug. 1.
Prosecutors urged the judge to not change the May 4 sentencing date, writing on Monday (April 4), “His victims have waited years to see the defendant held to account and sentenced for his crimes.”
A Brooklyn, N.Y., jury found Kelly guilty of eight counts of violating the Mann Act, an anti-sex-trafficking statute, and one count of racketeering on Sept. 27, 2021.
Under U.S. code, racketeering – a charge most often associated with organized crime – refers to any act or threat including bribery, extortion, or dealing in an obscene matter carried out through coordinated illegal means. According to the New York Times, prosecutors said in the case of R. Kelly that the singer and his "inner circle" recruited girls and young women for sexual exploitation, and to produce pornography, for more than two decades and in multiple states.
R. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is facing life in prison.
